Purpose of the visit

In February 2023, Cerema will host an Emergency Response Exercise in the Baie de Somme area on the North Sea Coast of France. The Polder2C’s partners visited this area in preparation of this exercise. The purpose of the visit was threefold. The participants wanted: 

• to explore the area 
• to share knowledge about levee inspection and management 
• to see whether the results from the Polder2C’s research are applicable to another area with different characteristics. 

Programme

The delegation visited 5 different locations of levees in the Baie de Somme and Baie d’Authie area. The local hosts of Syndicat Mixte explained more about the surroundings and the characteristics of these specific area. Levee managers showed how the levees are inspected and maintained. Also, some tools and techniques were demonstrated, such as the Ground Penetrating Radars (GPR), drones with a heat camera and repair measures with geotextile and sand bags. And the French provided good feedback and suggestions to further improve App2C. This is an app that is used for reporting levee damage and irregularities. 

"We are content. This visit shows the reproducibility of the results of our activities and findings in the Polder2C's project. "

Pieter Rauwoens

Valuable visit

It was a valuable visit strengthening our partnerships, sharing knowledge and starting new collaborations for the future. And of course, it provided great insights about the area helping us to prepare the Emergency Response Exercise in February 2023. 

Emergency Response Exercise

Curious about the Emergency Response Exercise in February? We have limited places available, read more about the Exercise.