At the end of February two teams of civil and hydraulic engineering students participated in the Levee Challenge in our Living Lab Hedwige-Prosperpolder.  

The main objectives for these teams were:

• To repair a damaged levee as well as possible with surface protection measures within a timeframe of four hours, with a budget of 1500 euros 
• The reparation of the levee needed to be sufficient to withstand large overflow.

Two teams, two solutions

Two very skilled teams of students participated in this challenge, Team Brugse Diek from KU Leuven, Bruges campus and Team Hans Brinker from TU Delft. Both teams had quite different approaches. 

Curious to learn more about their approach?

See their pitch videos

Three prizes

The two teams could win a total of three prizes. 

Innovation award of 400 euros
This award is for innovative value, based on the following criteria: durability, potential & value, method & development and innovation.

Budget award of 300 euros
This award is based on what the solution cost per m2. 

Promotional video award of 200 euros
The final award goes to the team that is best at selling their repairing solution in a promotional video. The team who gets the most likes on YouTube wins.

Jury reports

The jury appreciated both solutions very much and thought they prepared and executed the repairs very well. On both sides they have seen very interesting outcomes. 

What the jury appreciated about the Hans Brinker team from TU Delft was the strong process-based approach and technical analysis leading up to the solution. Also, the report was complete and a pleasure to read. The solution itself was light and fast to install, but may be quite difficult to install under storm or wind conditions due to the lightness of the material. Also, the overflow tests did not entirely go as anticipated. However, overall, a good temporary measure.  

The jury highly appreciated the laboratory tests and the physical experiments that team Brugse Diek from KU Leuven did in order to design their solution. Also, the use of bio degradable material was positively evaluated. The team worked goal oriented and it was a strong performing solution. 

The awards go to…

Innovation Award – Team Brugse Diek
Both teams prepared and executed their repair measure very well. Overall, based on the criteria, team Brugse Diek came out as the winner. 

Budget award – Team Brugse Diek 
Team Brugse Diek spent 14 to 15 euros per m2 compared to 20 to 25 euros per m2 by Team Hans Brinker
 

Promotional video award – Team Brugse Diek
Team Brugse Diek had 86 likes and team Hans Brinker 7 likes for the promotional video.

See the promotional video of Team Brugse Diek:

Congratulations to Team Brugse Diek for winning all three prizes and we thank both teams for all their hard work, good spirit and interesting solutions that they showed during the Levee Challenge. 

Read more

Read more about the Levee Challenge or watch the video playlist of the Levee Challenge on YouTube.