New land to hold back water: Giant project protecting Amager

Text: Peter Kargaard, Licitationen. Originally published in Park & Anlæg, a Licitationen insert. The below text is an extract.

The landscape adds new meaning to the concept of 'amenity value'. Even with the fierce February wind spraying drizzle and the pale sun mostly hidden behind the clouds, it almost feels like a holiday destination. 

Everything seems bigger here, at the south tip of Amager: the sea, the sky and the vast open littoral meadow. 

We are at the southwest headland and Søvang, which borders on the town of Dragør to the northeast and Kongelunden to the west. A sight that lowers your shoulders automatically.  But if you put your imagination to use, the expanse of water has an ominous quality.

And the threat is a reality for the residents living behind the old, rather low sea wall and beach ridges. Several garden gnomes have already needed life jackets, and lawns and herbaceous borders have been flooded. Large assets are at risk. Because when will the huge storm surge strike?
To that end, a groundbreaking coastal project has been launched with a – perhaps optimistic – plan to create brand-new coastal protection by the end of 2030.

"It's one of the most complex, nature-based coastal protection projects in Denmark," says Sanne Lovén Damgaard, who is a design director with Arkitema and head of the architectural firm's protection project "Dragør – a climate-resilient coastal municipality', which the municipality itself has promised to complete by 2030.

And the backdrop is clear: Denmark is a low-lying country, and large parts of its coastal areas are at risk. The water is coming. That's a fact.

"In the next 50 years, the water level is expected to rise by 60 cm, and as the sea level rises so does the groundwater," says Sanne Lovén Damgaard, whom we meet up with in the open landscape, which offers a great overview and faces even bigger challenges.

It is difficult to imagine all the work it will take to construct the new foreland and landscape wall that are to protect the area from Søvang to the southwest headland against a 100-year storm surge event in 2075. This protection forms the first part of a comprehensive coastal protection project extending from Nordstranden to Kongelunden.

That it is all about people and their daily lives is recognised by Sanne Lovén Damgaard and her colleagues – both in the drawing department and in the parent company, COWI.

"Coastal towns get a lot of attention because they are vulnerable and often major attractions. That's what makes the Dragør project, which covers a 13-kilometre section, so important; as a pilot project, it can be a stepping stone to other coastal protection measures. For instance, shifting from building higher sea walls to working with nature-based solutions," she says.

"Because they do more than just offer protection against storm surges. They secure a great foundation for more life both on land and below water while respecting the local DNA and cultural heritage," she explains.

Sanne Lovén Damgaard adds that the development plan, which was finalised in 2021 and put out to tender in 2023, is a visionary project that prioritises public involvement. 

Due diligence

And there is a lot at stake in terms of planning, debate and preparation. 

Indeed, this project will be a pilot project and a pioneer in the future protection of other coastal landscapes in Denmark. 
"And it takes due diligence and planning – not least because parts of the area are protected under Natura 2000 (an EU network of habitats aiming to protect habitats and wild animal and plant species, ed.)," says Sanne Lovén.  

"We will create added value, provide new experiences of nature and develop a landscape that, over time, grows more resilient as water levels rise. With that in mind, having experts on board from the get-go has been crucial. In addition to landscape architects and coastal engineers, the development team includes biologists, environmental and legal specialists, and anthropologists," she says.  

Sanne Lovén Damgaard keeps her eye on the ball, which is a new sea wall adapted to the local DNA. The sea wall consists of a water-proof clay core with absorbing slopes, and the new nature-based foreland reduces the impact of waves and mitigates both future storm surges and rising sea levels.

"The main purpose is coastal protection, but we're not interested in accumulating water behind the wall that we can't get rid of," says the architect, alternately looking down at her notes and out to the landscape; the natural space that, in the next five years, will grow in size thanks to construction machinery and that will be able to resist a 100-year storm surge event in 2075, "but that can be adjusted and increased when rendered necessary by the future rising sea level," as she puts it. 

The text was originally published by Licitationen. Read the full article (behind paywall) here.