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Home Initiatives Events Test closure Maeslant Barrier
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Test closure Maeslant Barrier

Live stream - organised by I-STORM.NL

Open event

Rotterdam, The Netherlands

19 September 2020 04:20 AM — 17:30 PM GMT-1

Every year the test closures of the Dutch Maeslant Barrier and the Hartel Barrier take place in September. Normally this is a big event, but due to the Coronavirus measures, I-STORM member and barrier owner Rijkswaterstaat decided to reach the public via a livestream this year.

Rijkswaterstaat is responsible for almost all storm surge barriers in The Netherlands. It tests its barriers annually before storm season in order to be ready to face seasonal weather patterns. The test closure of the Maeslant Barrier, situated in the South of The Netherlands, is normally open to the public. However, taking into account the COVID-19 measures, Rijkswaterstaat decided to livestream the test closure of the barrier as well as the opening this year. This way the public can still join.

For the test closure two live streams were planned:

  • Overnight (4:20 AM local time Sunday morning), when the tide was high, the Maeslant Barrier began to close. Because of this (very) early start, American colleagues were able to view the closure, as it took place on Saturday night in the USA.
  • The opening of the barrier started on Sunday afternoon from 16:30 PM (NL time). This livestream included webcam videos and drone images.

To view a summary of this test closure, please take a look at the summary of this event on YouTube channel of Rijkswaterstaat.