Green on the sheet pile wall, built in Bergen op Zoom
FLOT. is a floating planter that hangs on a steel sheet pile wall. The planter moves with the water level and the waves, so the plants always have water and are never flooded.
FLOT. is an initiative of Dutch Water Tech and MH Poly Consultants & Engineers, two companies from Bergen op Zoom.
Why sheet pile walls?
Quays and harbours are lined with kilometres of steel sheet piling. Little grows there and the transition between land and water is missing. A nature-friendly bank often doesn't fit, because the space or the quay is needed for shipping and traffic. FLOT. brings the bank to the sheet pile wall, without rebuilding the quay.
How a module works
Floating planter
A stainless steel basket with a cork float. Native bank and aquatic plants grow in the openings.
Two steel cables
The planter hangs on the sheet pile wall by two steel cables. It slides up and down with the water level and stays in place in waves.
Grass-concrete ballast
Under water, a grass-concrete tile keeps the cables taut. The tile and the roots give fish, mussels and other aquatic animals a place to shelter.
Plastic-free
Cork, stainless steel and concrete. No plastic or heavy metals end up in the water.
From student idea to three locations
A student idea in Oudenbosch
The municipality of Halderberge wants to green the sheet pile walls in the harbour of Oudenbosch. Students from Curio come up with thirty ideas. Three systems go into the water: with scaffold tubes, with steel cables and with magnets.
First measurements
In the harbour of Oudenbosch, biofilm, small aquatic animals and fish eggs appear under water. Animals use the planters as a place to shelter and rest.
Testing among inland shipping
Ten modules in the Theodorushaven in Bergen op Zoom. Ships turn there and cause waves and currents every day. That is exactly why this harbour was chosen for testing.
Third location: Zeewolde
Modules along a new sheet pile wall in a new residential area.
Oudenbosch at scale
140 modules along 195 metres of sheet pile wall in the Stadshaven of Oudenbosch.
Who is behind FLOT.?
Dutch Water Tech
Company from Bergen op Zoom that makes biological solutions for surface water, such as floating islands. Director Mark den Dubbelden.
MH Poly Consultants & Engineers
Engineering firm from Bergen op Zoom. Handles design, calculations and technical drawings. Director Bard Louis, environmental project leader Puck Oomen.
WVS
Employees of this social employment company assemble and plant the modules.
Curio
Engineering technician students helped design the first system and helped build it in Oudenbosch.
Also involved: Stichting Waterpoort naar Rome, Regio West-Brabant (grant from the Research & Development fund) and the Province of North Brabant.