Relying on history to solve modern problems

At Hatch, I specialize in hydrotechnical engineering. I’m part of a dynamic team at the front line when rivers break their banks or when levees and dams are breached. Our team creates multi-dimensional models that test the limits of water control and retaining structures while potentially showing us the devastation, loss, and possibly, death that a failure of these structures can bring.

I grew up in Manitoba where the flooding of our two largest rivers has become part of our identity and our history. For me, history has always been an integral part of my engineering journey. So much so that I attained a minor in history while completing my engineering degree. I struggle to consider current engineering practices without thinking of what has already occurred. When my colleagues and I think of waterbodies, we not only consider where water will go, but attempt to overcome the coefficient of friction by considering where it has been. What magnitude of storms and floods have we already experienced? How often do they occur? What did engineers do in the past to manage them?

In 2018, I was fortunate enough to spend several months studying at the International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation in the Netherlands. I learned that there is a Dutch saying that goes, “God created the world, but the Dutch created the Netherlands.” Dutch engineers have been expanding the footprint of the country for 800 years by employing land drainage and water management techniques in the form of polders, windmills, canals, levees, floodgates, dams, and walls. Most of the country lies below sea level and over 60% of it would be flooded if the country’s water defenses were not constantly secured. The Netherlands was literally shaped by their waterboards (waterschappen) which were first formed in the 13^th century.

There are 21 regional water boards in the country that are tasked with managing water barriers, waterways, and water levels, among other responsibilities. These boards act independently from the main body of government and even collect their own taxes. The waterboards are the oldest democratic institutions in the Netherlands and hold their own elections for various board positions. The Netherlands’ distinction as a small, marshy landmass hanging onto the edge of continental Europe has thrust them into the international spotlight as experts in flood control and mitigation. As the result of a rich and storied history characterized by storm surges from the North Sea, the Dutch are recognized as world leaders in this area of engineering. Modern Dutch engineers piggyback on nearly a millennium of flood protection knowledge. But they aren’t reinventing the wheel. They are just rolling it forward, embracing and building on the hundreds of years of experience the country has survived.

There is currently a program in the Netherlands called “Room for the River” where measures are being taken to allow flooding to occur safely at more than 30 locations along the Rhine, Meuse, Waal, and IJssel rivers. Instead of containing and controlling the water, engineers have decided to leave the necessary room for the rivers to expand in flood seasons, respecting the power and impact that come with these large waterbodies. Though the country has benefited and literally grown by using water control techniques, they are building on history by taking a step back from taking absolute control over the water and instead, choosing to allow the water to go where it wants and leaving the appropriate room for it to do so. Dutch innovation in this field is unparalleled thanks to an acute awareness of their own history.

A project at Hatch that found me immersed in a very different type of history than I expected to see in my career was an ice jam study for a river in one of Canada’s western provinces. Hatch was tasked with determining how long a particular area of the river had been experiencing ice jamming. My home city of Winnipeg happens to house the Hudson’s Bay Company Archives and it was there where the bulk of my research for this project took place. I searched through multiple journals in which fur traders meticulously kept records of the weather and ice conditions in the area. These journals were nearly 150 years old, used language that was unfamiliar, and a style of cursive that required significant deciphering. Microfilm readers were used to skim letters exchanged among Hudson Bay’s Company Chief Commissioners and to view original maps of forts. Although it is likely that ice jams had occurred there since antiquity, the fur trader journals helped us determine that they were actually recorded 144 years ago. While this is not the typical type of history we use as engineers, these eyewitness accounts were highly valuable and contributed to the successful completion of the project.

We stand on the shoulders of the engineers and scientists who came before us. They did the hard work of theorizing and experimenting to overcome the proverbial coefficient of friction. It is our responsibility to keep their efforts moving forward. They have left us with an elevated baseline of knowledge in hopes that we continue to build upon work. Today’s engineers should be compelled to take a thankful glance back at those who laid the groundwork for today’s engineers to continue to innovate.