Assessing the Damage Prevented by a Proposed Flood Barrier in Scheveningen’s Port under Current and Future Conditions

Scheveningen, the Netherlands, is developing residential and commercial spaces in its port; although, there is significant flood hazard exposure and limited flood damage protection. To address this, the city is exploring barriers to withstand a 1∶10,000-year flood, the regional standard. This research evaluates the economic impact of physical damage prevented by constructing a land barrier and flood gates at the port entrance, considering multiple projected surge levels, land development, and sea level rise (SLR) scenarios over a 100-year lifespan. Applying FloodAdapt software, scenarios of present and future land use, SLR, and storm surges with exceedance frequencies up to 1∶10,000 per year were analyzed. Results indicate that over a 100-year period, the physical damage prevented relative to the barrier’s construction, maintenance, and operation costs reaches approximately a factor of five. Under extreme SLR, only unprotected beach commercial buildings are significantly affected. This study highlights the economic benefits of flood barriers for Scheveningen, offering insights for coastal cities like Galveston, Texas, in developing flood mitigation strategies to support a blue economy.