Inlet sluices for flood control areas with controlled reduced tide in the Scheldt estuary : an overview

Flood Control Areas (FCAs) are one of the measures to protect the Flemish part of the Scheldt estuary against storm surges. Recently, in some of these FCAs a Controlled Reduced Tide (CRT) was introduced by means of simple sluice constructions, aiming at a combination of flood control with nature development and the ecological functions of intertidal areas. This paper gives an overview of the different types of inlet sluices and energy dissipation measures that have been designed, built and/or are under construction: an inlet sluice with an inclined drop, an inlet sluice with a pooled step cascade and a combined inlet-outlet sluice with an internal drop structure.