Locks with Devices to Reduce Salt Intrusion

Abstract

Navigation locks can strongly influence the water management of an area (both quantity and quality) especially if they belong to a retaining dike separating saltwater from fresh water. Then these locks consume fresh water for the locking process. An extra quantity is also needed for the reduction of salt intrusion. In the past 30 years, various locks with devices to reduce the salt intrusion have been developed especially in The Netherlands. The state of the art of this development is presented. The performance of the various devices will also be described. The major characteristic of the development is a decreasing consumption of fresh water to reduce the salt intrusion combined with an increasing complexity of the devices.