HZ Civil Engineering students Tim Vanassche and Christian Gerrits won prizes at the Waterbouwdag in Utrecht last week.
Vanassche came second in the Waterbouwprijs election with his research on the water safety of primary flood defences in Zeeland. He investigated the failure mechanism of the dykes. To this end, he carried out sensitivity analyses, among other things. He looked in particular at precipitation and permeability of the dike.
Gerrits came third. He was awarded the prize for his research 'Floating high-water beaver refuges'. In that research, he looked for a method by which the beaver, which has recently grown explosively in the Netherlands in terms of numbers, can take refuge during high water and residents' need for more water safety.
