Giving up on higher dikes"After 800 years of building dikes, we've been making them higher and higher," said Gert-Jan Meulepas, project manager at Royal Haskoning, an engineering and environmental consultancy that developed the project. 

"But if something goes wrong, the damage will be greater."

After the floods in the 1990s, the government decided to no longer raise the dikes, but move them back. 

In the early stages, there were 100 spots identified around the country where flood defenses may need an upgrade, and 39 have been selected for construction.

The local government has the opportunity to change the waterfront, and the work is paid for by the national government."The Netherlands decided, as a national strategy, to deal with water in a different way, and the total budget is €2.2 billion“ 

"The project has two goals: to increase safety and to add a spatial quality to the area around the rivers, reconnecting our country to the rivers.

Digging at Nijmegen will start 2013. 

The dike, island and new channel are expected to be completed in 2016, 

 including building 2 new bridges, extending an existing one and constructing new housing and recreation space.The 2,000-year-old city will change drastically, but developers took care to respect cultural and historical elements such as former fortresses and locations of dike breaches, which were fitted into the design.The channel will be 150 to 200 meters wide and 3 kilometers long. 

It will be dug after the dike has been moved back and will divert part of the Waal during high water, allowing for a larger discharge at the river bend in Nijmegen, which will reduce the chance of flooding. 

The channel will also be used for rowing and sailing, and will create an island in the Waal and a unique urban river park with possibilities for recreation, culture, water and nature.

The Dutch public works department Rijkswaterstaat and the city of Nijmegen officially started the construction of a 3 km long side channel next to the river Waal/Rhine.

Minister of infrastructure Melanie Schultz van Haegen attended the groundbreaking ceremony on January 22,2013 together with 50 schoolchildren and the mayor of Nijmegen, she wielded a spade.

Floating ideas, negotiations and restaurants> demolishing around 50 houses, which required negotiations and compensation for the property owners under the Netherlands' eminent domain laws."Local people who had to leave their houses were against it,

 "Most received money as compensation; some wanted land somewhere else instead, so the government gave it to them. Five or six property owners are still negotiating at the moment.“With the necessary demolitions, the involvement of the local people became even more important."We had many discussions with people living there on how to make the waterfront better,

"It was important for them to participate, and it became their own plan.“

>>> Locals asked for floating restaurants and a marina in the new channel. On the new island, they wanted a huge area dedicated to concerts in the middle of an open nature area.>>>"We used the former flood plains to create a park, We put up sculptures designed by local people. We designed the new bridges with input from the people.">>>One bridge will be reserved for pedestrians and bicyclists and will link the western part of the new island with a future urban district named Citadel. A second new bridge will be open to cars, pedestrians and bikes and will connect the island with a new quay.>>> The quay will be a cobblestoned slope that gradually disappears into the water, with space for walking, biking and numerous cafes with outdoor seating with views of the river and a new marina.>>>  The new island will serve as the rejuvenated heart of the city."Before, the city was mainly located on the south bank of the river, "Now the city center will grow by a third, extending to the north. 

The river will run through the city, instead of along the city."

Project manager Pim Nijssen is contented about the knowledge exchange in the FRC project.’

 We were inspired by the approach of the FRC project partners, the French city of Orléans and its surrounding communities. 

They have invested on increasing awareness by redeveloping the public space along the river Loire. 

Parking places have been removed and banks of the Loire have been given softly slanted slopes.