Damping waves with 50,000 rubber grass blades

Dimitris Dermentzoglou, PhD candidate in Coastal Engineering, investigates whether salt marshes can serve as a natural solution for coastal protection. It is why he mimics salt marsh vegetation at the TU Delft Waterlab. He hopes his research will yield a more sustainable alternative to the repeated raising of dikes. Waves travel from one end to the other through a fifty-metre-long channel of water. Halfway down the flume, the waves travel over and through blades of grass made from rubber. The surging waves make the blades dance back and forth. A few metres further down the flume, the waves break on a gently angled wooden board.