Stormy weather - Europa

A news mAgAzine from Cowi About engineering, enVironmentAL sCienCe And eConomiCs. August 2008, no. 17

Denmark's top weatherman calls on experts to separate truths from myths in the ongoing climate change debate

Stormy weather

4 Talking abouT The weaTherWhen discussing climate change, a balance needs to be struck between providing facts and not bogging down the public with too many figures, explain weather forecaster Jesper Theilgaard and cowi's Henrik Winther.

7 MeaSuring carbon fooTprinTSEverybody is talking about the need to reduce CO2 emissions, but a model for gauging emissions gives municipalities a chance to back up their good intentions with action.

8 worlD'S longeST briDgeProtecting sea cows and sea coral come with the territory when building the 40 kilometre fixed link between Bahrain and Qatar.

10 ciTy froM ScraTchVisit the tiny Ajman emirate north of Dubai, and you will see sand dunes and mangroves, but developers hope the first residents will soon be able to move into Al Zorah, a waterfront city of 160,000 residents.

15 arT MuSeuMThe acclaimed US architect Steven Holl will add his signature touch to HEART, Herning Center of the Arts.

22 facelifTPlans have been unveiled to give Denmark's most beloved tourist attraction, Tivoli, a redesigned western facade.

24 fooTbriDgeSGrowing traffic levels have led cities to turn to footbridges as a way to keep pedestrians out of harm's way.

32 winning circleA re-designed track has lightened the strain on racehorses as they gallop toward the finish line.

News magazine about engineering, environmental science and economics from COWI. Feature is published in Danish and in English. The magazine is distributed to customers, partners and employees.

Editorial staff:John Jørgensen, (editor-in-chief), [email protected] Tækker, [email protected] Schmeichel, [email protected] Toft Jensen, [email protected] Frank, [email protected] Lykke Pedersen, [email protected]

Design and layoutJosina W. Bergsøe, [email protected] Bjørn Nielsen, [email protected] Rom, [email protected] Schou, [email protected]

Editorial input closed on 7 July 2008.Reproduction is permitted with appropriate source references.Print run: 3,500Production: Schultz GrafiskISS 1600-6186

Published by COWI A/SParallelvej 2DK-2800 Kongens LyngbyTel +45 45 97 22 11 Fax +45 45 97 22 12www.cowi.com

COWI is a leading northern European consulting group. We provide services worldwide within engineering, the environment and economics with due consideration for environmental science and society. COWI is a leader within its fields because COWI's 4,000 employees are leaders within theirs.

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complex climateDoomsday scenarios about climate change can have a paralysing effect, says Jesper Theilgaard, a meteorologist at the national broadcaster Dr. Photo: Ulrik Jantzen

The sea attacks

Coastlines and holiday homes are threatened by rising water levels due to global warming.

But deciding which properties to protect is a tricky matter

biologists quest for Skallingen's protected sand lizards and vociferous natterjack toads

Critter Crawl

OperaWhen visiting Oslo's new opera house, beauty is in the eyes – and ears – of the beholder

A news mAgAzine from Cowi About engineering, enVironmentAL sCienCe And eConomiCs. August 2008, no. 17

Denmark's top weatherman calls on experts to separate truths from myths in the ongoing climate change debate

Stormy weather

International news magazine from cowi • 5

By Kathrine Schmeichel

Denmark used to be a world leader when it came to dealing with climate-related issues, according to Jesper Theilgaard, a meteorologist and TV weatherman for national broadcaster DR. Together with Henrik Winther, a cowi wastewater expert, he has agreed to a one-on-one talk about how to ef-fectively communicate climate-related issues.

Jesper Theilgaard argues that Den-mark's leading role was swept away by

‘the Lomborg effect’ – a reference to Bjørn Lomborg, economist and Direc-tor of Copenhagen Consensus Center, who also goes by the moniker ‘the Sceptical Environmentalist’.

“Lomborg's oversimplified argu-ments – that you, for example, got more environmental benefits for your money by securing clean water sup-plies for Africa rather than reducing CO2 emissions found an audience with politicians at home and abroad. But it came at the expense of scientific opin-ion,” explains Theilgaard.

“These issues cannot be separated because they are inextricably linked. For instance, when the temperature rises, less and less water is available to dry areas, so they suffer drought condi-tions. And what little water that remains becomes more polluted because the chemical concentration is higher. When flooding occurs, crops die/get

and fertilisers contaminate drinking water.”

Jesper Theilgaard believes that ex-perts have a special responsibility when it comes to communicating cli-mate change issues, and that they must live up to this responsibility without resorting to scaremongering.

keep things simpleNow that the climate is on the international agenda, and politicians and scientists have generally acknowledged that man-made CO2 emissions are contributing significantly to global warming, climate-related issues have become easier to discuss. But both Jes-per Theilgaard and Henrik Winther emphasise the importance of keeping communication simple.

“You are a poor communicator if you can’t make things easy to understand. Sometimes you even have to oversim-plify things a little to give people a chance of grasping the overall picture,” says the meteorologist.

Henrik Winther suggests that the use of technical jargon should be limited.

“Our customers, who are typically municipal techni-cal managers, are familiar with the jargon so they un-derstand every word we are say-ing. But things are not so easy when trying to commu-nicate with politi-cians and the man in the street. A year ago we used the ex-pression ‘monster rain’ to describe a torrential downpour. People began using it throughout the industry – and journalists love it, because it’s so self-explanatory and has more impact than terms such as ‘recurring periods’ and

‘precipitation intensity’.”

Doomsday scenarios Both professionals agree that the doomsday scenarios that are reported to be looming on the climate horizon

can be detrimental.“Even though climate

disasters are already oc-curring – such as extreme water shortages in Spain and melting glaciers in the Andes – care should be taken not to overdra-matise these events, because then it has the

Experts have a special responsibility when it comes to explaining complex climate issues in an understandable way, according to a popular weather forecaster and a cowi expert on climate protection. But they need to avoid doomsday scenarios that can have a paralysing effect

climate experts: keep it simple

Fotos: Ulrik Jantzen

Meteorologist Jesper Theilgaard

is pleased that ‘simplistic’ arguments that downgraded

the importance of climate change have

fallen by the wayside.

You are a poor communicator if you can’t make things easy to understand”Jesper Theilgaard, TV weather forecaster

“

I prefer to find realistic solutions that give every municipality the chance to properly protect its citizens”Henrik Winther, Head of Department in COWI

“


opposite effect and people will start to become indifferent to these developments,” says Jesper Theilgaard.

Both men want to use their skills to contribute to a better world climate.

“There's a risk that glo-bally, these problems are beginning to overtake us. It is well known that bread and water shortages can cause unrest and even revolutions. Now that cli-mate changes are making access to water even more difficult, I want to help raise awareness of the risks we are facing,” says Jesper Theilgaard.

“We can use our knowhow to take action – for example by building dykes

and other coastal defence systems, re-distributing agricultural yields, or by planting deciduous rather than conif-erous forest.”

Henrik Winther concludes: “Both as an engineer and a member

of society I want to use my profession-al skills to ensure that Denmark utili-ses its resources in the most sensible

way to protect the climate. cowi can easily deliver elaborate solutions, but I prefer to find realistic so-lutions that give every municipality the chance to properly protect its citi-zens.”

Henrik Winther (pictured on left) and Jesper Theilgaard hope

to use their expertise to help protect the environment. Knowledge

gives us the power to act, while ignorance has a paralysing effect, Theilgaard argues.

By Christina Tækker

Many countries are in the process of mapping their na-tional CO2 emissions, but none has managed to pro- duce an overall report at municipal level yet. Denmark, however, is in the midst of such a project. Using a new national IT-based calculation model, which will be ready this autumn, municipalities can calculate the extent of their CO2 emissions and identify ways to reduce them. This allows them to compare their CO2 emissions be-tween themselves, as well as with other municipalities in the EU.

“The Danish CO2 calculation methodology for muni-cipalities is based on EU and UN requirements for na-tional emission reporting. The Danish CO2 calculation methodology may serve as the missing benchmarking tool for municipalities within the EU and the UN,” says Anne Mette R. von Benzon, project manager at cowi, the person behind the model.

uniform basis In autumn 2007, the Danish Ministry of the Environ-ment, the Ministry of Climate and Energy and Local Government Denmark (LGDK) decided to develop a na-tionally recognised methodology that would allow Da-nish municipalities to map CO2 emissions on a uniform basis.

The model will take into account municipal opera- tions, transport, agricultural emissions of methane and greenhouse gases, commercial energy use and citizens’ use of energy and heating supplies, waste production and traffic habits. Together with the CO2 calculator, cowi is preparing a catalogue for ways the municipali-ties can reduce their CO2 emissions within areas such as waste, traffic, agriculture and nature.

Århus: cycling capital of the world Århus, which is Denmark's second largest city, is one of the first local authorities to use the CO2 calculator. The CO2 calculator shows, among other things, that at least 75 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions stem from the citizens’ use of energy and transport within Århus. As a result, the city would like to influence its citizens' ha-bits.

“One of our ambitions could be to make the city the cycling capital of Denmark, Scandinavia or the world. That would be an extraordinary step towards reducing CO2 emissions from the transport sector,” says Claus Nickelsen, Head of Århus's Nature and Environment Department.

Statisticians are developing a model for calculating CO2 emissions based on EU and UN requirements

METEOROlOGISTJesper Theilgaard, 52 years old, is a qualified aviation meteorologist and has been employed at TV-Avisen, Danish Broadcast’s news channel since 2002. Jesper Theilgaard lectures on wea-ther and climate change and is the author of 16 technical publications. He is also a member of the steering committee for the European Climate Broadcasters Network, which receives secretariat aid from cowi.

ClIMATE ExPERThenrik winther, 38 years old, holds bachelor's degrees in engineering and commerce and is Head of Department for Water and Wastewater at COWI. His department’s responsibilities include the evaluation of flood risk and climate protection. Clients include Danish municipalities and large companies.

Sometimes you even have to oversimplify things a little to give people a chance of grasping the overall picture”Jesper Theilgaard, TV weather forecaster

“

co2Model for calculating

Århus has the lofty ambition of becoming the cycling

capital of Denmark, Scan- dinavia – and even the world.

Photo: Scanpix

@climate broadcasters network – europe: http://ec.europa.eu/ environment/networks/cbn-e

@ anne Mette r. von benzon, project manager, [email protected]

@ Jesper Theilgaard, meteorologist, [email protected]

@ henrik winter, head of Department, [email protected]

PERSIAN GULF

IranIraq

Kuwait

Saudi Arabia

Yemen

OmanUAE

Afghanistan

Pakistan

Bahrain

Qatar

Baghdad

Tehran

Kuwait City

Manama

Doha

Muscat

Sana

Abu Dhabi

Riyad

8 • International news magazine from cowi International news magazine from cowi • 9


cowi has signed a contract with the QBCC – the Qatar-Bahrain Causeway Consortium – to design the world’s longest bridge between the island state of Bah-rain and neighbouring Qatar in the Middle East.

At present, the journey from Qatar to Bahrain via Saudi Arabia takes five hours by road. Once the new causeway has been completed in just over five years’ time, however, the trip will take just half an hour.

The 40 kilometre fixed link will be a natural exten-sion of the King Fahd Causeway that connects Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. The causeway will connect the entire region and help to promote trade and tourism between the two countries. The bridge is due to be completed by 2013, which poses a huge challenge for the consultants.

“Completing the project within such a short period of time will be extremely demanding. The 22 kilometre long bridge connection alone may comprise 880 bridge girders – that requires highly industrialised production methods and effective transport and installation, all of which we need to factor into the design,” explains Erik Yding Andersen, cowi’s project manager on the job.

Stringent environmental requirements The causeway, which is also known as the ‘Friendship Bridge’, will be constructed as a motorway with two lanes in both directions. The connection will consist of 18 kilometres of road on embankments where the water is shallow, and 22 kilometres of bridge across the deeper water. The fixed link will also feature two cable-stayed bridges, each with a main span of 265 metres. The total cost of the causeway will be EUR 2 billion.

Stringent requirements will be imposed on the pro-ject to ensure the causeway does not disturb the delicate ecosystem in the Gulf of Salwa, which is home to the en-dangered dugong, or sea cow. Similarly strict environ-mental requirements will be imposed on the excavation works to protect sea coral from being destroyed.

cowi is collaborating closely on the project with the QBCC in shared offices in Doha, Qatar. The staff that will be involved in the project will primarily come from cowi’s regional offices in Denmark and the Gulf, but in the course of the project, additional assistance may also be sought from cowi’s subsidiaries in Canada, India and Korea.

behind the projectcowi has been working for the client, Qatar’s Ministry of Muni-cipal Affairs and Agriculture, since 2001. Together with the DHI, Sund & Bælt Partner and architects from Dissing + Weitling, cowi has conducted feasibility studies and environmental as-sessments of the fixed link. The project has been on hold for a number of years while Qatar and Bahrain have negotiated the terms for constructing and operating the fixed link.

A 40 kilometre long bridge will connect the island state of Bahrain with neighbouring Qatar by 2013, helping to link the region

A causeway between Qatar and Bahrain will connect the entire region and help to promote trade and tourism between the two countries. Model: DISSING + WEITlING

World’s longest bridge to promote trade

Completing the project within such a short period of time will be extremely demanding”Erik Yding Andersen, project manager in COWI

“

@ erik yding andersen, project manager, [email protected]

10 • International news magazine from cowi

Biologist Jan Fischer Rasmussen

greets the first lizard of the day.

Photo: Niels Åge Skovbo

Counting the critters

Before the final remains of land

mines on the west coast of Jutland

can be removed, the area’s resi-

dents need to be registered. Follow

cowi’s biologists on their quest for

Skallingen’s protected sand lizards

and vociferous natterjack toads

Drawinga city

in the sandAn ambitious waterfront

development project is taking shape in Ajman north of Dubai.

Some 160,000 residents will be able to live, work and play in

a city that takes into account delicate natural areas

By Uzi Frank

Investors jumped at the chance to buy a slice of the Al Zorah coastal development project during a pre-launch sale in May. Even though they only had scale models to illustrate how the 12 square kilometers (2,965 acres) community will appear when it stands completed, they snapped up some EUR 1.7 billion worth of property.

Al Zorah Development Company, which is a joint venture between the Ajman government and Lebanon-based Solidere International, suggests the city represents an alternative to Dubai's gridlock, where a decade-long real estate boom has turned the city into a giant construction site.

Al Zorah attempts, in contrast, to create urban design on a human scale that takes pristine natural areas into account.

The land is “alive with nature”, Imad Dana, CEO of Al Zorah Development Company told bi-me.com. A variety of birds and fish are found in the area, and out-croppings of mangroves provide a backdrop for a world class golf course.

“This natural beauty is central to Ajman's appeal, but so too is its rich culture,” Dana added.

Striking a balance between this natural beauty and the 160,000 residents which are expected to take up residence here, takes careful planning. That is where cowi engineers come in.

Robert Uthwatt, cowi's project manager in the Ajman office, explains that Al Zorah Development Company enlisted them to conduct a detailed design study for the waterfront development. An environmental impact assessment (EIA) also investigated the effects of a nearby power plant.

The challenges of building a city on the edge of the desert are numerous, admits cowi's project manager. Work grinds to a halt, for example, when the mercury tops 50°C during the hottest summer hours. And al-though the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has become a melting pot with over 140 nationalities mingling, know-ledge of Arabic is still helpful when paperwork needs to be filled out for public authorities.

But with challenges come rewards, the veteran project manager reports.

“You have to experience working in the UAE to understand it,” says Robert Uthwatt. “It's hard work, but good fun.”

The entire project carries an estimated EUR 38.3 billion price tag.

Developers have organised Al Zorah into village-like

clusters to promote a sense of community in the city

of 160,000 citizens . Model: Al Zorah staff

@ Robert Uthwatt, project manager, [email protected]


By Janne Toft Jensen

How to tally lizards

How do you calculate the number of lizards living

in an area of dunes roughly one square kilometre

in size on the west coast of Jutland?

“You go out looking for them. Then you count

them,” says biologist Martin Vestergaard, laughing.

Armed with binoculars, camera and GPS, he

negotiates his way cautiously around the tip of

the Skallingen peninsula north of Esbjerg, heading

for the dense groundcover of crowberries. After

less than half an hour, bingo! A greyish-brown

sand lizard is found basking in the sun and

immediately becomes Skallingen’s most

thoroughly photographed reptile.

This is the final section of Skallingen that has

not yet been cleared of German land mines from

the Second World War. But the actual clearing of

the rusting mines cannot begin until populations

have been tallied and mapped.

Sand lizards are actually a sort of Komodo dragon, only much smaller…” Martin Vestergaard, biologist in COWI

“

Next step forwardErik Willadsen, project manager from the Danish Coastal Authority, remains in the back-ground while the biologists are at work. He follows Martin and Jan during their fieldwork in

order to ensure that they move safely around the old mine area. The tip of Skallingen has been closed off to the public until the mines

have been removed. Since 2006, the remains of Skallingen have

been thoroughly excavated and cleared of the 72,000 mines laid in the area by the Germans during the war. The minesweepers came across several hundred active mines during

the work. “It may seem odd spending so much money

on clearing an old mine area. But we’ve found mines in excellent working order, and if Denmark signals that it’s taking this matter

seriously, it will inspire other countries to do the same,” says Erik Willadsen, who has cleared mines in places such as Africa and the former Yugoslavia.

Eco-friendly minesweepers The sand lizard squirms slightly in the experi-enced fingers of Martin’s colleague Jan Fischer Rasmussen, but puts up with being examined by the pair of biologists.

“Sand lizards are actually a sort of Komodo dragon, only much smaller,” Martin explains. Based on many years’ experience, Martin and Jan can estimate the size of the population after a day’s census.

This species of lizard is submerged in the sand for a good eight months of the year, so digging through the dunes, which may be necessary in order to demine the area, can pose a problem for the population. So another point of the day’s fieldwork is to come up with techniques which will have as little impact as possible on the species. Possible scenarios in-clude doing mine clearance in stages to avoid affecting all the colonies at the same time and taking the life cycle and mating patterns of the sand lizards into consideration.

If Denmark signals that it’s taking this matter seriously, it will inspire other countries to do the same”Erik Willadsen, project manager from the Danish Coastal Authority

“

Photos: Niels Åge Skovbo

Esbjerg

Skallingen

North Sea

Esbjerg

Skallingen

North Sea


Croaking chorus

The perpetual sound of lark song is heard over-

head. Martin and Jan move off, each in their

own direction, shouting an occasional signal

across the dunes when either of them stumbles

across something interesting. Jan is keeping a

list of birds in the little Chinese notebook he has

brought along. Martin is taking waypoints on

his GPS wherever lizards and special vegetation

types are spotted. After their visit to Skallingen

they can plot these points onto a digital map

and in this way gain an overview of the species

in the area.

On this trip they only find a handful of sand

lizards, but the biologists are not disappointed.

“Now we know that there are sand lizards

here and that they’re found in the inland dunes.

That’s fine. This evening we’ll be able to put a

much more accurate figure on the natterjacks,”

Martin says.

As if on cue, a loud croaking comes from a

natterjack in a pond in the interior of the dunes.

Their expectations for the number of natterjacks

are greater than for the sand lizards:

“It’s a good sign that the frogs are croaking

during the daytime – that means there’s life in

them there dunes!”

It’s a good sign that the frogs are croa-king during the daytime –that means there’s life in them there dunes!”Martin Vestergaard, biologist in COWI

“

Model: Steven Holl Architects

Seen from above, the new Herning Center of the Arts, also known as Heart, will look like a white shirt carelessly tossed on the ground. The museum – which will also house a classical music ensemble, a small concert hall and a creative workshop for children – was designed by one of the most notable architects in the US, Steven Holl. He is particularly well known for his art and cultural pro-

jects, of which the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art in Helsinki, Finland, is considered his masterpiece. cowi is the client adviser on the project which will stand com-pleted in spring 2009.

Museum with a pulse

EU's Habitats Directive

Skallingen is a specially protected area

under the EU's Habitats Directive, which

means that there have to be grave reasons

before anyone can tamper with the area.

The Habitats Directive includes a list –

Appendix 4 – of species that must be pro-

tected, wherever they occur. That applies to

sand lizards and natterjacks. In other cases,

sharp-nosed frogs and crested newts make

appearances as well.

@ Martin Vestergaard, biologist,

[email protected]

@www.herningcenterofthearts.dk

@ Jan Bering Sørensen, Senior project manager, [email protected]

Photo: Scanpix

Global warming threatens beaches, homes and infrastructure. Protective measures are taken to preserve the coasts

global warming eats

away coastlines

Rathdrum

Naas

Balbriggan

Navan

Kildare Bray Brayhead

Dalkey

Blackrock

GreystonesDelgany

Clondalkin

SwordsMalahide

Drogheda

Wicklow

Naas

Trim

Dublin

Wicklow

Boy

ne


the coastal railway at Brad Head is protected by revetments. Photo: Christian Helledie

By Gitte Roe Eriksen

Seaside views are popular, whether from a holiday cottage, an office building, a hotel room or a pent-house apartment. But those views need to be protected from the sea it-self, which is eroding our coasts in many places, particularly due to the rising water level. Since the last ice age, water levels have risen several metres, and in the hundred years that elapsed from 1900 to 2000, they rose an additional 16 centimetre. But they will not stop there, because scientists are expecting a rise of 40 centimetres or more in the 21st cen-tury, due to global warming.

“Once the rising water level is really acknowledged as a fact, the need for coastal protection and other measures is going to explode. The methods already in use today can be used, but it’s going to be very costly for society, and available funds will have to be prioritised so as to focus on areas with most at stake,” says Ole Juul Jensen, Market Director, Marine and Coastal Engi-neering at cowi.

cowi has been the consultant on some of the largest coastal projects both in Denmark and abroad. Here slope protection in the form of re-vetments, breakwaters and groynes, and beach nourishment have been combined. This is always done with a view to taking into account the rising water level.

“These days, all projects are based on increased design water levels of 30 to 40 centimetres. There used to be no focus on this, but it is now a prerequisite for any project,” Ole Juul Jensen explains.

Today it is normal to combine se-veral different methods when provi-ding coastal protection. In the past, engineers relied mostly on groynes – a rock structure built perpendicular to the shoreline, but these resulted in leeside erosion, because they were

not combined with beach nourish-ment. Nowadays, beach nourish-ment is one of the most widely used methods throughout the world, and as such is often used in combination with either breakwaters, groynes or slope protection.

Expanding sea water Two factors are mainly responsible for the rising water level. First, ice in Greenland and Antarctica as well as glaciers are currently melting far more quickly than in the 1900s, and that has a global impact. Scientists report that every year, more inland ice melts than forms.

Secondly – and even more impor-tantly – rising temperatures, made worse by CO2 emissions, are causing the sea water to expand and take up more volume.

“Given that the volume of sand and materials along the coasts is constant, unless man intervenes in nature, it will inevitably lead to the coastline receding,” Ole Juul Jensen says.

The land is moving The rising water level is not creating equally great problems along all coasts, because it is also crucially im-portant whether the land is moving vertically, as in the case of, say, Den-mark.

“The land in Denmark is subject to rise or subsidence according to the ice cover during the last ice age. For instance, the land in southern Jutland is subsiding, while eastern Zealand is rising,” Ole Juul Jensen explains.

West coast hardest hit In Denmark, the west coast of Jut-land is taking the brunt of it. Here the coast is receding further and further inland. The beaches are quite simply severely eroded and will disappear completely in many

places unless first-aid is administe-red in the form of coastal protection. The Danish Coastal Directorate, which is responsible for Jutland’s west coast, ensures that, each year, some three million cubic metres of sand are pumped up from the sea-bed for so-called beach nourishment.

According to the Coastal Directo-rate, at the moment, this is suffi-cient to maintain status quo, but if the water level rises any faster in the future, that amount will have to be increased, Ole Juul Jensen predicts.

Towns will be more exposedBut the beaches are a minor problem compared to the coastal towns that are often situated too low in relation to the sea.

“After all, it’s easier to demolish a beach or let it erode away than it is to allow a town to be demolished,” says Christian Helledie, a coastal morphologist at cowi, who adds:

“It’s nearly always worthwhile protecting a town. The question is whether it’s worth safeguarding eve-rything or whether it is better to al-low the sea to demolish a few hol-iday cottages. In practice, you see, you can protect every coast – as long as you have enough money. But things are happening so quickly along the most vulnerable coasts that, in the long term, it may not be worthwhile even carrying out coast-al protection.”


Rail passengers travelling with Iarn-ród Èireann-Irish Rail from Dublin to Wicklow can enjoy spectacular views of the sea and coast from an escarpment that in some places drops 25 metres down to the sea.

Part of the Irish Rail’s eastern line runs along the coast and until the year 2000, erosion steadily undermined the old and unstable coastal defence and the tracks, as huge waves crashed onto the shore when high tides coincided with

stormy weather. As a consequence, the 150-year-old railway took a battering. Lack of pub-lic funds prevented the necessary maintenance work from being done until quite recently.

cowi began working with Irish Rail in 2000, helping to develop their coastal defence programme, parti-cularly along the sections where there was an increased risk of acci-dents due to erosion. The program-me continues to this day.

Huge rocks form a barrier The coastal defence programme primarily involves rubble mound

revetments. These are strategically placed along the coast between the beach and the rail-way at the most ex-posed locations.

Revetments have proven to be the best and most cost-effective solu-tion, both along the sandy beaches and in front of the headland embank-ments where the railway is built high above the sea.

“The railway couldn’t be moved inland, so to make it safe it had to be fortified along the eroding cliffs. However, the most vulnerable sec-tions of beach will gradually disap-pear in front of the revetments.

Near cities there is little space for realigning the in-frastructure, and in order to minimise maintenance, a substantial and perma-nent solution such as rubble mound revetments

is required to prevent the sea from damaging the railway,” says Christian Helledie, a coastal morphologist at cowi.

The Irish Sea is known for its harsh impact on the coastline. Because of the hostile wave climate and deep water along the shore, beach nourishment programmes along the coast are both too ex-pensive and demanding. Also, local environmental agencies resist gran-ting approval of such projects because of the extensive volume of sand materials required.

Safe travel on Ireland’s coastal railway

Thanks to the recently installed coastal protection scheme, the safety of the railway track and the trains is ensured on the Irish east coast south of Dublin

How our coasts are protectedBreakwaters: Rock revetments parallel to the coast.

Groynes: Rock structures perpendicular to the coast.

Toe protection: Rock structures along toe of slope.

Beach nourishment: Pumping in sand from seabed onto beach.

@ Ole Juul Jensen, Market Director, Marine and Coastal Engineering, [email protected]

@ Christian Helledie, coastal morphologist, [email protected]

@Read more www.cowi.com


the breakwaters at Liseleje are helpful in reducing the loss of sand along the foreshore. the structures are known as a ’tombolo’, which forms the letter ’t’. the sand is the bottom part of the ’t’ and the breakwaters are the upper part. Photo: scanpix

the idea of beach nourishment is to replace sand that is eroded by waves. Here, a dredger pumps sand along the west coast of Denmark. Photo: Rohde Nielsen a/s


The north Funen coastline in Denmark is home to 2,000 holiday cottages along a 13 kilometre stretch offering enviable views. Maintaining the beach costs them each about EUR 200 a year in fees, which they pay to the North Funen Coast Protec-tion, Dyke and Drainage Association.

The money ensures that the ho-liday homes can maintain their safe position on the coast and an attrac-tive sandy shore. The coastline is protected by rock structures and beach nourishment as the sea would otherwise get closer and closer. Eve-ry other year, the shore is nourished by a fresh supply in the form of ap-proximately 20,000 cubic metres of

sand, which is shipped from the seabed by a special vessel called a dredger, and which sails close in to the coast and pumps the last bit up onto the beach through a pipeline to reform the beach.

“The idea of beach nourishment is to replace the sand which is being eroded by the waves and lost along the coast. It’s a never-ending job. However, rock structures have been installed at the most exposed sections in order to reduce the loss of sand and hence the need for recharging,” says Christian Helledie, a coastal morphologist at cowi, who has been involved in the project for several years.

New lease on life for the beach In 1996, the Danish Coastal Author-ity began upgrading the coast pro-tection defence along a number of sections of the Danish waters. Some 25 sections with serious coastal prob-lems were selected, including North Funen, where the sea had eroded most of the sandy beach over the years. The following year, cowi began the new coastal protection works at North Funen.

The coast was already protected by a number of small, run-down groynes and other rock structures, which made the coast look messy and aes-thetically unpleasant.

“The old structures were incapa-ble of retaining the sand on the beach, which had largely disap- peared as a consequence. And that created an increased risk of a sea dyke breach and flooding,” Christian Helledie explains.

By replenishing the beach with 113,000 cubic metres of sand, spread out over a stretch of 2.2 kilometres, the goal was to advance the beach some 25 metres in relation to the original beach, which had vanished completely in a number of locations.

Beach nourishment was chosen in order to restore a natural, attrac-tive sandy beach while simultane-ously protecting the nearby sea dyke from erosion. In addition, it was decided to leave the old groynes in position in order to retain the sand which was being heaped up across the beach.

Every other year or so, part of the 13 kilometre long stretch of coast in Denmark gets ‘beach nourishment’ from the sea. This ensures that local holiday homes are still able to enjoy their sea view and sandy beach

Nourishing the coast with sand

A beach nourishment and breakwater scheme has improved coastal protection and beach conditions for Liseleje’s residents on Denmark’s northern coast


Over the years, landowners on the 2.5 kilometre stretch of beachfront property west of Liseleje tried to protect the coast themselves with homemade concrete walls, wooden structures, car tyres and various stone structures. In most cases, however, their efforts fell short, and the beach continued to wash away. The aesthetic quality of the coast was considerably reduced.

Frederiksborg County, the local government body responsible at the time, decided to take action and re-cruited cowi to oversee the develop-ment of a collective shore protec-tion scheme for the entire coastline. Following an in-depth assessment of the natural conditions at the site, cowi drew up a project design and

supervised the coastal protection scheme's implementation, which was completed in 1999.

Combination of methods cowi's assessment of the conditions along the coast showed that the best solution was a combination of shore protection measures, including the creation of shore parallel breakwa-ters made from quarry stones. The other methods were beach nourish-ment and the construction of revet-ments to protect the foot of the high slope from erosion due to waves and storm surge.

Nine breakwaters, each about 70 metres long, were combined with initial beach nourishment using 70,000 cubic metres of sand. Initial

nourishment involves a large vol-ume of sand by comparison with the subsequent maintenance nou-rishment, which to date has been avoided at Liseleje as the breakwa-ters have been efficient in retaining the sandy beaches.

“Breakwaters are helpful in redu-cing the loss of sand along the foreshore. The structures also pro-vide shelter from the waves and thereby collect sand behind them in what is known as a ‘tombolo’. This allows people to walk along the beach, as opposed to groynes, which are positioned at right angles to the beach,” says Christian Helledie, a coastal morphologist at cowi.

Sheltered from the waves




Tivoli: nearly 165 years old and still changing

with the times. Models: Pei Cobb Freed &

Partners Architects

Architects hope to transform Tivoli's drab western facade into a vibrant arcade that is

used year-round.

By Uzi Frank

Tradition and renewal go hand in hand at Tivoli, the world-famous amusement park which inspired Uncle Walt to create Disneyland. Despite rounding its 165th birthday this summer, the venerable amusement park continues to live up to its founder Georg Carstensen's words that “Tivoli will never be finished”.

The amusement park's latest project, Tivoli Edge, is the most resent example of this prophecy. It calls for the drab concrete wall along the park's western border to be torn down and replaced with a three-storey glass arcade designed by the esteemed architect firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners.

When the arcade stands completed, guests will be able to stroll through boutiques or dine at cafés and restaurants, providing the area in front of Copenhagen Central Station with a much-needed boost of energy. Lars Liebst, CEO of Tivoli, expects the project will have a harmonious, unifying effect on the downtown area.

“We want to create life in the city centre year-round and make Tivoli a destination – even in the off-season,” says Liebst.

cowi has climbed on board to serve as process consul-tant during the pre-review process and assist city offici-als and park representatives draw up a future local plan. They might face opposition from advocacy groups like the one which recently managed to block the construc-tion of a high-rise hotel in the park designed by Nor-man Foster.

The thought of sorting out the cacophony from citi-zen groups, park representatives and city officials does not seem to bother Karin Thuesen Pedersen, cowi's pro-ject manager and architect. She feels cowi can play a role in mediating the many voices that come to be heard as the beloved amusement park undergoes another change.

“It’s a tremendously exciting project to be involved in since Tivoli Edge will provide a significant and highly visible contribution to the life of the capital and open Tivoli up towards the city.”

Tivoli orders facelift

It is a roller coaster ride anytime Denmark’s most popular amusement park unveils plans to change. cowi has been invited on board to keep the train on track

We want to create life in the city centre year-round and make Tivoli a destination – even in the off-season”

Lars Liebst, CEO of Tivoli

“

@ Karin Thuesen Pedersen, project manager, [email protected]



London and Paris have a lot of them, and Copenhagen is not far behind. Bridges for pedestrians and cyclists are more popular then ever before as a result of the increasingly heavy traffic in Europe’s largest cities. The bridges make it easier to cross the busiest roads, and often add a touch of architectural beauty to the urban space.

cowi is involved in several such bridge projects, main-ly in Denmark. The latest example is the Ågadebroen footbridge in Copenhagen, which has been designed by cowi in collaboration with architects from Dissing + Weitling. The bridge, which forms part of the green cycle route between Copenhagen and Frederiksberg, allows pedestrians and cyclists to cross the busy Ågade road in Copenhagen. The bridge features a horizontal arched de-

Footbridges as the one in Ågade are more popular than ever before – they

fulfil a need to bypass heavy city traffic and can even be transformed into

architectural masterpieces

sign to which the path has been adapted. From Ågade, the bridge looks like a city gate, guarding the entrance to Copenhagen. The light design stands in stark contrast to the solid buildings in the area. Access from one city area to another has also been simplified with the footbridge at the university in Roskilde, a bridge across the railway in Albertslund and a swing bridge across Copenhagen Harbour.

“We have seen an increase in demand for these light bridges. Usually they are intended for both pedestrians and cyclists in this country, whereas the bridges we build abroad are mainly for pedestrians. After all, very few countries have as many cyclists as Denmark. A con- ference in Portugal due to be held later this year will

focus on footbridges,” explains Ib Blom Andersen, project manager at cowi.

Creative footbridges Whereas design requirements for road and railway bridges are more stringent, architects and engineers are free to express their creativity when designing foot-bridges. The result is that these bridges are often lighter, more elegant and far more exciting to look at.

In London and Paris, the best known examples are undoubtedly the Millennium Bridge across the Thames which connects Bankside with the City of London, and the Passerelle Solférino bridge across the River Seine.

Architectural footbridges for the cities of Europe

The Ågade footbridge in Copenhagen has a light, transparent steel design. Photos: Gitte C Fotografi

The bridge, which forms part of the green cycle route bet-ween Copenhagen and Frede-riksberg, allows pedestrians and cyclists to cross the busy Ågade.

@ Ib Blom Andersen, project manager, [email protected]

An opera house for the people

Norway’s new Opera House rises like a glacier out of the sea and has already become a popular attraction. Critics have praised its stunning, functional architecture, which invites the public to walk on its marble roof

Photo: Jiri Havran

By Kathrine Schmeichel

Norway’s new Opera House emerges from the sea like an iceberg: its 25,000 square metre marble roof starts below the waterline, turns into a snow-white square in front of the unobtrusive main entrance and then moves on in the form of mas-sive sloping surfaces which meet up at the top of the fly tower.

The idea is for the public to walk on the roof, for the Norwegian ar-chitects Snøhetta have conjured a building which is designed to be used – and not just at ‘opera time’.

Since its opening in April 2008, residents of Oslo and tourists alike have been flocking to the Opera House, located not far from Oslo Central Station. The roof is proving to be a big hit: all day long, visitors – from kindergartens and young lov-

ers to joggers and pensioners – are enjoying the impressive view from the Opera House's roof, with the fjord on one side and Oslo’s mountain-embossed skyline on the other.

Visitors do, of course, ascend the roof at their own risk – as a sign re-minds them – and “use of bicycles and skateboards is prohibited”. Apart from this, access is unre-stricted at all times.

The idea of building a home for the Norwegian Opera and Ballet met with opposition right up until the government’s decision in 1999, according to Mette Nordhus, Infor-mation Officer at Statsbygg, the Norwegian government construc-tion agency which commissioned the Opera House.

“Many Norwegians, especially outsi-de Oslo, felt that the NOK 4.2 billion the facility cost was an excessive amount to spend on elitist art forms like opera and ballet, because they appeal to so few people,” says Mette Nordhus.

“With this in mind, it's gratifying to see that it's actually an opera which has been the driving force behind the redevelopment of the whole harbour.”

Mette Nordhus is referring to the local plan which Oslo Municipality has drawn up with the aim of reuni-ting the city with the fjord by trans-forming the harbour area and the six-lane motorway into a new, at-tractive urban area with a harbour promenade, 5,000 dwellings and 20,000 new jobs. The plan provides

for the ring road, which currently runs adjacent to the Opera House, to be re-routed under the fjord through a tunnel in 2010.

Acoustics before aestheticsThe massive glass entrance which is wedged into the roof itself combines with the building's marble slopes to give the Opera House a highly dis-tinctive profile, iconic in the traditi-on of Utzon’s Sydney Opera House. When the sun shines, one can be practically snow-blinded, the reflec-tion from the white marble roof and the aluminiumclad fly tower is so dazzling.

The roof affords an excellent view down through the glass facade into the huge marble-lined foyer, and into the large ‘wooden box’

which houses the main stage and auditorium. The curved back of the three dress circles swells into the foyer like a wave of oak.

This wave retraces the original contours of the beach, for most of

the Opera House has been built on refilled ground in the fjord and rests on a foundation of piles which in some cases have been driven 30-60 metres down to gain solid footing in the bedrock.

Photo: Jiri Havran

Photo: Gerald Zugmann

In the foyer, oak panels cover the curved wall providing for

good acoustics. The chinks in the wall offer views of the

bars and corridors leading to the balconies.

Photo: Jiri Havran

The opera house's 25,000 square metre marble roof has become a new tourist attraction. It offers fantastic views of the fjord and the city's sky-line with mountains in the distance.Photo: Jiri Havran

State-of-the-art sound systemOslo’s Opera House is one of the most modern in the world – it is also one of the newest.This is the opinion of Frode Bye, AV engineer with cowi Norway, who has been involved in advising on the electro-acous-tic solutions in the Opera House – designing all forms of sound and AV systems from communication between stage technicians to sound systems in the auditoriums and recording facilities for television stations.

The Opera House boasts a range of electro-acoustic specialist services, such as the world’s largest wireless digital stage communication system which is used by everyone behind the scenes, and the Norwegian TTA system which automatically guides voices through the loudspeaker system so that it sounds as if they are coming directly from the performers wherever they may be in the auditorium. TTA is so cutting edge that only five other places in the world have it, one of them being the Royal Danish Playhouse.

cowi also provided consultancy services on fireproofing and telephony. The fireproofing brief was immensely challenging in terms of formulation and calculation, given the unique geometry and infrastructure of the building which meant there were no helpful guidelines already in place. cowi’s services ranged from outlining general guide-lines to recommending detailed matters such as which material to use in the stage curtain as well as the PA warning system, sprinkler system, high-pressure water hoses, smoke ventilation and smoke detection.

30 • International news magazine from cowi

The roof is not the only scene of activi-ty during the day: the foyer is often buzzing with people buying tickets to the three stages, dining at the two restaurants or simply enjoy-ing the architecture – the guided tours are often sold out.

Snøhetta is known for integra-ting architecture and the visual arts in a functional synergy. Thus, an ice-crystalline installation by the Da-nish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson acts as a natural wall section around the cloakrooms and toilets in the spacious foyer.

Visitors gain a particularly strik-ing impression upon entering the main 1,400-seat auditorium, where the first sight is of curved, dark-stained oak balconies which were designed by boatbuilders and which combine with the orange plush seats to invite audiences to surrender to the experience.The functional artwork in the audi-torium includes an 8.5-ton glass chandelier, which in addition to pro-viding light has an acoustic function. As in other opera houses, the orna-

mentation is not there for decorative purposes alone: the seats are desig-ned so that occupied or unoccupied, they absorb the same amount of sound, the balconies and the chan-delier provide optimal sound distri-bution, and the curving oak wall has a sound-absorbing effect in the spa-cious, lofty foyer.

Debate on high-rise buildings Aesthetics and functionality also combine in the building's exterior. Here, a solar panel on the south side is designed to correspond to a glass pattern on the north side. Although the solar panels only reduce a small percentage of energy consumption, in conjunction with other energy-ef-ficiency measures such as natural ventilation, they provide a total of 18 per cent in energy savings.

The international acclaim which has greeted the Opera House has prompted debate on the subject of the planned buildings in its imme-diate vicinity, because it is feared

that they will hem in the Opera

House and mar the view. But Helle Lis Søholt of Gehl Architects, who have prepared what is known as a volume survey for waterfront owners of the waterfront, says:

“Our survey has demonstrated that high-rise building won't neces-sarily obstruct lines of sight which means that even from a distance, people in the city will be able to see the Opera House.”

With 330 performances a year and an anticipated footfall of a million both inside and outside ‘opera hours’, indications suggest that the

‘Sydney Opera House effect’ enjoyed by Oslo’s glorious ice floe is not about to wear off.

The chandelier in the large auditorium weighs 8.5 tons and is comprised of 8,000 LEDs and 5,800 crystals. More than just a work of art, it provides opti-mum reflection of sound, as do the oak balconies, which were designed by boatbuilders.Photo: Statsbygg/Trond Isaksen

Photo: Gerald Zugmann

I am in love. She's Norwegian, gorgeous, full of fun, yet with surprising hidden depths. Quite literally so, since her lower limbs are permanently submerged in the sea. No, she's not a mermaid. She's the new Oslo Opera House, an amazing marble and granite vision that rises out of the fjord like a giant ice floe”Richard Morrison, The Times, April 2008

“

@ Frode Bye, sound and AV engineer, [email protected]

@ Mette Nordhus, Information Officer at Statsbygg, [email protected]

@The Norwegian Opera & Ballet Company: www.operaen.noStatsbygg: www.statsbygg.no/Prosjekt/Opera/Snøhetta: www.snoarc.no

The problem is the same at horse tracks around the world: the stones cannot be too grainy since they could hurt the horse and the driver, but they need to be a little angular to achieve a firm, slightly cushioned sur-face. The ideal composition has been achieved at the Charlottenlund Travbane track in Denmark. When the horses and drivers speed past, they do so on a new sur-face with a grain size of 0–4 millimetre that provides a

perfectly cushioned track. The old crushed stone dust has been reused in the construction of the canted track ends. New grey crushed stone dust has been spread on the surface of the track, where the turns slant up to 14 per cent. This enables the horses to trot even faster. cowi designed the facility.

Heading for the winner’s circle

Illustration: COWI

@ Jørgen Pedersen, project manager, [email protected]

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