Flood risk management is essential in water resource planning to reduce potential damages and losses in flood-prone areas. Traditional risk assessments often focus on monetary values and ignore equity, leading to unequal distribution of protective measures. The equity weighting method has been implemented in past studies, but at certain administrative levels, it may not capture the income heterogeneity within those areas. This research investigates how accounting for income heterogeneity within administrative areas affects equity-weighted risk and impact estimates and explores practical ways to implement this approach, given privacy-related data limitations.

The study focuses on Charleston County, South Carolina, using disaggregated methods at the household level to integrate detailed socioeconomic data into equity-weighted flood risk assessments. The methodology involves assuming an equal distribution of income within predefined brackets and optimizing upper and lower bounds for open income brackets. Additionally, a linear relationship is assumed between the structure value and household income, allowing for the spatial allocation of income within census block groups.

The results demonstrate that the disaggregated method identifies more vulnerable households and shows significant differences in equity-weighted damage (EWD) and equity-weighted expected annual damage (EWEAD) metrics compared to the aggregated method. These findings suggest that the disaggregated method provides useful evidence for considering the importance of taking into account income heterogeneity when assessing flood risks, particularly in areas with significant income inequality.

Sensitivity and uncertainty analyses indicate that the income distribution parameters show both low sensitivity and low uncertainty when using a fitted log-normal distribution, suggesting that this distribution is a good fit for the data and provides stable results. In contrast, in the spatial allocation of income with structural values, the analysis results show high sensitivity and significant uncertainty, which means small changes in structure values lead to substantial variations in equity weight estimates.

The study concludes with recommendations for stakeholders to adopt household-level analysis and incorporate equity weights in cost-benefit analyses. Future research should explore additional socioeconomic factors, develop dynamic risk assessment models, and apply the methodology to diverse geographic and economic contexts.

Because of climate change, seawater levels are expected to rise considerably, combining this with increased peak river discharges, results in significant strain on inhabited low lying parts of the world. The Rhine-Meuse estuary is a perfect example of this; a densely inhabited region in between the North Sea and multiple rivers.
The Dutch Delta Program researches the effects of climate change for the Netherlands and proposes multiple alternatives to reduce its effects. An alternative comprises of the implementation of large scale hydraulic interventions, in combination with keeping all dikes up to the norm.
Four alternatives are considered, being; A1: Closed seafront and keeping current water level, A2: Closed seafront, allowing an increase in water level, B1: Closable seafront and retaining river discharge distribution and finally B2: Closable seafront with an altered discharge distribution.

This research determines, and compares, the economic efficiency of the aforementioned alternatives considering different spatial planning scenarios. The economic efficiency of an alternative is calculated by summing the resulting benefits of the alternatives and dividing this by the cost of implementation.
A higher economic efficiency indicates that an alternative provides higher value compared to its cost of implementation, this is necessary to help decide if an alternative is worth considering for implementation. Estimating the impact that spatial planning strategies have on the economic efficiency of the alternatives helps in determining if such strategies need to be accounted for when performing efficiency determinations for similar large scale hydraulic measures. The benefit of implementing the alternatives consists of the resulting reduction in dike reinforcement cost and reduction in the region’s flood risk as compared to the baseline strategy. The baseline is the strategy to protect the Netherlands like it has been done i.e. reinforce dikes where the failure probability is close to becoming higher than the norm, combined with mainly utilizing closable flood barriers, also known as the open-closable strategy. All economic factors are converted to present value with a discount rate of 1.6%, alternatives are modeled to be implemented in 2100 and all the alternatives’ effects are considered up until 2200.

This study finds that, amongst the four considered alternatives, B2 appears to be the most economically efficient choice, next to that, alternative A1 has comparable economic efficiency. The efficiency is for a large part a result of the flood risk reduction for unembanked areas, which alternative A1 and B2 specifically, have as an effect. Alternatives A2 and B1 have an economic efficiency far below 1.0 for all spatial planning strategies; thus not worth exploring further based on the considered factors within this research. Spatial planning strategies have a significant influence on economic efficiency; alternative A1 and B2 become around 30% more efficient for the move to unembanked spatial strategy as compared to the densification one. And reversely, the strategy of developing rural land results in all alternatives having an economic efficiency of below 1.0; being cost ineffective.

In this research, three reference locations are used to determine the flood risk reduction of the alternative, the other economic factors are scaled (normalized) to be in proportion with the reference locations. If the flood risk reduction effects of the alternatives would be determined for the whole Rhine-Meuse Estuary the uncertainty of the applied method would be reduced. The flood risk reduction determination relies purely on water levels, their frequencies and corresponding damages, taking into account the alternatives’ effect on outside water level perseverance would lead to more precise flood damage estimations. The unembanked flood risk reduction is the governing factor for the economic efficiency of the alternatives making the (local) protection, of unembanked areas specifically, a possible highly cost effective strategy. This should be explored as a new alternative next to the four in this research, possibly made up out of components of the considered ones.

The study delves into the crucial role of undrained shear strength in the stability of civil engineering projects involving soft soils. It explores the enhancement of this strength through (pre)loading in conjunction with Prefabricated Vertical Drains (PVDs). The Stress History and Normalized Soil Engineering Properties (SHANSEP) framework is employed to forecast changes in strength across various phases - before, during, and after loading. Validation is conducted using Cone Penetration Tests with pore pressure measurements (CPTu), and the Nkt strength factor is employed to correlate CPTu data with undrained shear strength.

The research combines laboratory experiments and field data to predict undrained shear strength via SHANSEP, which is subsequently validated through CPTu measurements and monitoring. Two distinct datasets are examined in the study. The first dataset involves dike projects at 'de Markermeerdijken' in the Netherlands, where PVD-assisted surcharges of 5 meters are implemented. SHANSEP is utilized to predict strength levels before surcharge, post-surcharge removal (after >90% consolidation), and post-removal phases. These predictions are cross-validated using CPTu data and laboratory tests. The second dataset focuses on a reclamation project involving Marine Soft Clay strength in the Philippines. Strength correlations with CPTu tests during consolidation are established, and comparisons are made with data from piezometers and SHANSEP predictions.

The analysis uncovers that SHANSEP's precision is contingent on several factors:

1. The uncertainty surrounding Pre Overburden pressure (POP), leading to inaccuracies in initial strength predictions.
2. The effectiveness of preloading being compromised by limited load area relative to depth.
3. Submergence of the surcharge beneath the phreatic surface, resulting in diminished preload and gained strength.
4. Incorporating creep into predictions necessitates a reduction in SHANSEP's S factor.
5. Accurate predictions rely on high-quality laboratory tests.

SHANSEP demonstrates its ability to effectively forecast undrained shear strength in soft soils, with its predicted surcharge strength increments aligning with CPTu values. However, challenges are identified in predicting and verifying strength during consolidation due to the dominating influence of excess pore pressure.

The study's key findings recommend the inclusion of adjustments for preload submersion, consideration of load distribution, and the evaluation of partially drained CPTu data using parameters such as Bq and qt to enhance the verification of SHANSEP-predicted strengths. The study emphasizes caution against relying solely on CPTu or piezometer data for ensuring reliability and accuracy.

Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) are increasingly gaining popularity due to their multifaceted benefits addressing various environmental and societal challenges for cities. The pursuit of achieving sustainable urban water management and enhancing resilience and well-being has expanded the range of NBS applications considered useful. Currently, traditional sustainable urban drainage practices sit alongside urban vegetation, such as parks, street trees and green facades, to address specific urban challenges, all delivering different benefits and tradeoffs. This diversity of applicable NBS introduces a decision-making challenge: Choosing appropriate nature-based solutions for cities.

To address this challenge, this thesis developed a framework to assist decision-makers in selecting a set of potential suitable nature-based solutions for urban areas. The tool combines a screening method with a multi-criteria analysis that integrates public preferences, benefits, and tradeoffs of NBS based on ecosystem service variables. The new methodology has been demonstrated in the city of Tam Ky, Vietnam. The case study results showed successful integration of public preferences, benefits, and tradeoffs of NBS based on ecosystem service variables in the selection process. Combining this data into a method to visually present rank scores allowed to holistically evaluate the performances of different NBS relative to each other. This output can aid decision-makers and planners in gaining a more holistic understanding of the importance of local ecosystem services, enabling to align potential suitable NBS with public wishes and needs, and selecting a set of potential suitable measures accordingly.

An extensive Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) is used to determine the efficiency in reducing the carbon footprint of a graving dock. Firstly by identifying the hotspots in a base design, and then by comparing the various design alternatives. The focus is on reducing the amount of reinforced concrete used in the design of the dock floor by adding fibres to the concrete mixture and on prevention of having to dispose of in-flowing sediment after every docking procedure. Other evaluation methods such as a Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) that compares the economic viability and a Multi Criteria Analysis that combines the results of the LCA and CBA and assesses the design alternatives on other criteria such as ease of operation and maintenance are used to determine the optimal dock configuration for Damen Shipyard and Conversion B.V. in Harlingen.

The energy market is growing and noise regulations for offshore foundation pile installation grow stricter. New initiatives arise to comply with the ongoing developments in the field, such as the BLUE Piling Technology under development by IQIP. Its features are presented as reduced underwater noise levels during installation, which is attibuted to the lower pile wall vibrations caused during driving. In this thesis, the design and execution of a field test is described, identifying the most important differences in geotechnical aspects between a prototype Blue Piling hammer and a conventional impact hammer, the IQIP Hydrohammer S-30. The results show that the Blue Piling hammer creates a response between pile and soil that is very different from a conventional impact hammer. The fundamentally different soil response led to pile plugging during the field test, affecting the stresses around the pile tip. This phenomenon is unlikely to occur during monopile installation, but scaling the test results requires further research.

After overtopping, the most common failure mechanism in the world that leads to a dike breach is the instability of the inner slope. Two stability calculations are required for the semi-probabilistic assessment of inner slope stability. One calculation is without significant overtopping and the other calculation is with significant overtopping whereby the dike is saturated. The semi-probabilistic assessment method with overtopping is prescribed in a KPR factsheet, but is not verified by calibration calculations or probabilistic calculations. After performing semi-probabilistic and probabilistic calculations at Jaarsveld-Vreeswijk (JAV) in the Netherlands, there is an inconsistency between the semi-probabilistic and probabilistic estimates of the reliability index for inner slope stability with overtopping. Semi-probabilistic and probabilistic calculations have been performed to gain more insight in the inconsistency between the semi-probabilistic and probabilistic estimates of the reliability index for inner slope stability with overtopping. Based on the results, it is recommended to perform a calibration study for inner slope stability with overtopping to obtain a better estimate of the failure probability based on semi-probabilistic calculations.

The inner-city of Amsterdam contains a large network of vulnerable, historic quay walls. Most of these quay walls consist out of masonry gravity walls placed on wooden relieving floors and wooden foundation piles. Due to the changing surface loading conditions behind the wall and the degradation of the masonry and wooden structures over the last century, the safety of the quay walls is in critical condition. Insight into the behaviour of the masonry wall tilt and its relationship with several failure mechanisms is still limited. Therefore, the objective of this thesis is to provide this insight into the behaviour of the tilt approaching failure in the center of Amsterdam. Additionally, the use of monitoring data from SmartBrick devices is analyzed to assess the value of quay wall inclination monitoring.

Using PLAXIS 2D, quay wall models are made aimed to create a sensitivity analysis towards the wall tilt using multiple variations in quay structure dimensions and parameters. These variations investigate the wall height, wall thickness, floor length (and the amount of pile rows), the canal depth and the pile diameters based on a typical Amsterdam soil profile. For the tested geometry variations, there is a linear relationship seen between the wall tilt and the horizontal wall displacement towards the canal, during the addition of the surcharge load behind the wall. The relationship between the wall tilt and the surcharge load is predominately linear at lower/realistic surface loads, at higher loads, towards failure, the wall tilt becomes exponentially larger, this is also seen by setting the varied dimensions towards failure scenarios. The most sensitive variations for inclination are the change in the masonry wall height and thickness, the pile distribution underneath the floor and the addition of a surcharge load directly behind the masonry wall.

The failure mechanism describing the horizontal displacement of the masonry wall and the piles is recognized by increasing the height of the masonry wall and by decreasing the pile diameters (pile degradation). By increasing the wall height, the quay structure also settles vertically, which in combination with the horizontal displacement, initiates wall tilt. During the addition of the surcharge load, the crossbeam (kesp) and the piles can deform, and their bending moments can exceed their bending capacity, indicating another failure mechanism with initiates wall tilt. The failure mechanism describing rotation of the masonry wall on the floor towards the canal is activated by decreasing the wall thickness and therefore decreasing its lateral capacity. This causes the masonry wall to fall over. Damage to the foundation elements has an important impact on the tilt of the wall, due extensive axial displacements of the front pile row or cracks in the masonry wall.

To compare the SmartBrick inclination and PLAXIS inclination, it is important to know the exact degradation, erosion and loading conditions during the time between two SmartBrick measurements. The linear relation between the wall inclination and the wall displacement is useful for SmartBrick because it shows that monitoring the inclination also predicts the wall displacement and the state of the quay wall. Pile degradation and canal erosion only give a small wall tilt increase, but a larger increase in horizontal displacement of the wall is seen. Therefore, high measuring accuracy and resolution are necessary to monitor only the wall tilt.

To conclude, approaching quay wall failure shows that wall tilt in combination with horizontal displacement is expected, this behaviour can be monitored using SmartBrick. High wall tilt is often a first consequence of the exceedance of the bending capacities in the wooden elements.

This research explores the frequent urban flooding problems typically experienced in South-East Asian cities. Heavy rainfall during the monsoon period in combination with rapid urbanisation in the past decades causes an increasing amount of inundation events in the case study area Hanoi. The damage caused by these floods results in major economic losses that affect local citizens as well as governmental authorities. Flood waters are often heavily polluted with sewer water, threatening public health
and reducing the overall livability of Hanoi. In addition, inundated streets are difficult to navigate, and waves induced by vehicles can lead to dangerous situations for pedestrians and other road users. This research aims to have a better understanding of the failure mechanisms of Hanoi’s drainage system, and the risks associated with each mechanism. Since there is no standard methodology for probabilistic risk assessment of urban drainage systems, the methodology for levee assessment was adopted and adjusted to the field of urban drainage. This straight-forward method is transferable to other study areas and results in clear and comprehensive fault trees which are easily interpreted by drainage authorities.

A combination of expert judgement, qualitative fieldwork and analysis of newspapers was used to obtain an overview of all failure mechanisms and presented in the form of a fault tree. To investigate the potential damage that could be done by each failure mechanism, a probabilistic risk assessment was done using the urban drainage modelling software PCSWMM, and the potential risk of each mechanism was quantified. For the mechanisms with an unacceptably high risk, potential solutions were proposed. Four failure mechanisms were found that pose an unacceptably high risk on the drainage system: increased catchment size, pipeline blockage, inaccessible drains, and design inaccuracies. Potential solutions are to incorporate Low Impact Development (LID) in the urban area such as green and blue roofs, infiltration trenches and rain barrels. This type of infrastructure reduces the hydraulic load on the drainage system by reducing the runoff peak. In this way, urbanisation goes hand in hand
with preserving the natural flows. Other recommended solutions are to revise the cleaning schedule to make it more efficient, and raise awareness among local inhabitants to enlarge their role in the functioning of Hanoi’s drainage system.

This study aims to create a redevelopment plan for the riverfront of Rosario by proposing a new spatial plan. This redevelopment plan is based on four themes that fall in line with the vision of the municipality in order for the riverfront to reach its full potential. These four themes are accessibility, safety, innovation and sustainability which form the basis for the six initiatives. Aiming for an enhancement of port-city integration and possibly solve some of the technical and social problems the city is facing. To reduce the scale of this research, a smaller scope has been selected which starts from Parque España till Parque de la Arenera. Within this area an attempt will be made to investigate what initiatives are feasible and what value they add. It is proposed to carry out water hubs, the reuse of stranded boats and port elements, a port museum, tourist information boards, water taxis or -buses and the restoration of the riverbanks to also enhance the port-city integration whereof there is a lack of at the moment. To strengthen the initiatives technical feasibility is also performed to the project. It is recommended to further analyse the proposed solutions for enhancing port-city integration and perform a more detailed technical feasibility.

Sea level variations and storm surges are expected to increase as a result of climate change. 570 cities and some 800 million people are by 2050 estimated to be exposed to these phenomena when emissions do not decrease (UCCRN, 2018). It is, however, deeply uncertain if and to what extent emissions will decrease. Additionally, the effects of climate change are not fully understood due to its complexity, resulting in a wide range of uncertainty. Flood risk measures can be implemented to reduce flood risk. The economic evaluation of such measures is affected by other factors of uncertain nature such as economic growth. The Dynamic Adaptive Policy Pathways (DAPP) approach has been identified as an approach capable of identifying and implementing effective flood risk strategies under uncertain conditions (Haasnoot et al., 2013). This approach aims to provide decision-makers with insight into what action to take when. Simultaneously, the approach focuses on ensuring flexibility which facilitates adjustments to unforeseen conditions. Within this approach, so-called adaptation pathways need to be developed. These pathways describe a sequence of actions over time required to ensure a minimum level of flood safety. The DAPP approach has been applied to simplified cases in previous research, but not yet to more detailed master-planning for which the creation and economic evaluation of pathways is a not straightforward process. This results in the main research question of this thesis:

How can the Dynamic Adaptive Policy Pathways (DAPP) approach be used to create and select effective flood risk strategies under highly uncertain conditions?

This research question has been addressed by developing a framework capable of creating adaptation pathways and evaluating them with an incorporated scenario-based economic evaluation. This framework is supplemented with a probabilistic assessment that evaluates the performance of pathways in the full range of possible but uncertain futures. The use of these tools has afterwards been validated by applying them to a fictive case and a case study along the South East Coast of Singapore. The framework can be used to assess the sensitivity of uncertainties. Additionally, it can be used to obtain the conditions for which a different pathway turns out to be more effective. Damages corresponding to certain water levels are required as input and are used to build the damage function of a specific project area. These damages can be modelled with damage modules like the Global Flood Risk Tool (GFRT). The damage function and other basic information like dimensions and characteristics of the project area are used to perform an economic optimisation of individual measures. A selection of adaptation pathways (consisting of combinations of measures over time) is made based on prerequisites and a scenario-based evaluation. The scenario-based evaluation is supplemented with a probabilistic assessment as the use of scenarios might lead to cognitive biases and does not cover the full range of future possibilities (Hoffmann, 2017). This probabilistic assessment is conducted by means of a Monte Carlo simulation and can be used to evaluate the robustness of pathways in the full range of possible futures. A pathway can afterwards be selected and trigger values that should initiate the implementation of subsequent measures can be obtained via the framework.

The developed method has first been applied to a fictive case. A small area with a standard damage function was assumed for this. After the framework had been validated, the input-conditions were altered to assess the individual influence of each uncertain input value. The outcome turned out to be dependent on the characteristics of the project area and the assumed conditions. An increased area resulted in a pathway with a flood wall instead of a landfill as first measure being most effective. Out of the uncertainties, the discount rate and socio-economic growth rate turned out to most significantly affect the Net Present Value (NPV) and Cost-Benefit Ratio (CBR) of flood risk strategies. Especially, low discount rates and high socio-economic growth rates resulted in pathways built up of individual measures with lifetimes exceeding the technical lifetime of measures. To prevent this, and to ensure a flexible approach, the lifetimes of individual measures were restricted. A flexible approach enables one to adjust to conditions other than those that have been assumed. Measures with a long lifetime ahead lead to bigger investment costs and these are irreversible when the conditions turn out to be less severe than anticipated. The contrary also turned out to be possible. These short lifetimes corresponding to measures with practically infeasible low heights were prevented by setting a minimum height at which the linear relationship between the height and costs of measures starts. The probabilistic assessment was conducted after a pathway was selected. Increasing the range of uncertainty for this pathway logically led to a wider range of possible outcomes. This wider range of outcomes can be a reason not to select a certain pathway as the probability of a low NPV is higher. The fact that this difference could not be observed in the outcome of the framework underlines the need for this probabilistic assessment. Finally, trigger values were set for the selected pathway of the fictive case. The trigger values were initially set for the planned subsequent measures. However, it could be observed that the obtained trigger value for the planned subsequent flood wall increment did not result in sufficient time to implement a storm surge barrier without dropping below the required minimum level of flood safety. Therefore, trigger values corresponding to the next planned subsequent measure could potentially lead to the exclusion of other possible subsequent measures. Instead of setting trigger values for the planned subsequent measures, trigger values should provide enough time for all possible subsequent measures to forestall the exclusion of possible measures and ensure flexibility.

The findings from the fictive case led to adjustments of the framework to ensure practical feasibility and flexibility. The adjusted framework was afterwards applied to a real-life case along the South East Coast of Singapore characterised by a narrow water level distribution, i.e. a relatively small difference (∼15 centimeters) between water levels that differ a factor of 10 in return period. A storm surge barrier turned out to be a factor of 10 more costly than alternative solutions, irrespective of the assumed sea level rise scenario. Therefore, it was concluded that the storm surge barrier was not the desired flood risk reduction measure for the project area and the area was subdivided into smaller areas to further optimise the flood risk reduction strategy. The framework was used to create flood risk reduction strategies. No measures turned out to be required until 2092 for the assumed conditions. The sensitivity analysis of this case study showed that assuming a more severe sea level rise scenario (an additional 58 centimeters in 2100) and accounting for additional storm surge caused by climate change, could result in measures being required over 50 years earlier. Without taking this into account, two pathways turned out to satisfy the safety standards until 2200 for the assumed conditions. One pathway solely consists of a flood wall and subsequently flood wall increments (AP10) while dryproofing is the first measure of the other pathway and subsequently a flood wall and a flood wall increment are implemented (AP33). The costs of AP10 turned out to be slightly higher in the full range of futures than that of AP33 but the probability of obtaining a higher NPV than obtained from the framework was also higher (58% vs. 51% of the outcomes higher than the NPV of AP10 obtained in the framework). As the differences between the probabilistic assessments of the pathways are not substantial, the preferences of local stakeholders are even more important. Dryproofing can lead to inundation of the land for high water events with a return period lower than the safety standard while Singapore has set the goal to protect its coastlines and prevent inundation of the land. Therefore, the pathway consisting of a flood wall and flood wall increments turns out to be the most suitable solution for the project area.

This research contributes to the existing knowledge related to the DAPP approach as it smooths the not straightforward process of creating and evaluating adaptation pathways under uncertain conditions. It showed how to economically optimise individual flood risk reduction measures and build adaptation pathways out of those measures. A framework has been developed to automate this process and instantly evaluate the effectiveness of such pathways for set conditions. This study also showed how a probabilistic assessment of these adaptation pathways could be used to select a robust flood risk strategy. This developed method can further be fine-tuned by including transfer costs that reflect the costs of maintaining flexibility in the face of deep uncertainty. Additionally, flexibility can be incorporated within the probabilistic assessment to enable alteration of type and/or height of subsequent measures for conditions different than assumed. This would result in a more accurate assessment. Automating the integration of the probabilistic assessment within the framework can eventually lead to one complete tool which enhances the applicability and allows for the probabilistic assessment of all pathways instead of just a selection of pathways.

The case study of the outer lock head of the New Terneuzen Lock is considered to investigate the behavior of the Boom Clay and to develop an automated method for improving the deformation predictions in a deep excavation format. The initiative to perform this study was the uncertainty in modeling the Boom Clay behavior during the design and the over-predictions of the combi wall deformations in the aftermath. The problem has been attributed to the constitutive soil model and soil properties used for that layer.

In the context of this thesis a Python - PLAXIS application has been developed, which facilitates an iterative method to determine the real soil properties of the Boom Clay layer based on inclinometer measurements of the wall throughout the construction stages. The monitoring data present the reality; hence the safety factors had to be filtered out of the design for the comparison with them to be applicable. Therefore, the mean (most probable) soil properties have been recalculated, and the as-build external loads, aquifer heads, structural elements, and phasing have been deciphered to create the Mean model. Using the Mean model, the most appropriate constitutive model and drainage conditions for the Boom Clay are determined. It has been concluded that the Hardening Soil small strain is the most appropriate constitutive model. Using the Mean model as initial input and the constitutive model conclusions, an iterative process on the relevant soil properties has been conducted to reach ±10% convergence with the corresponding monitoring deformations. The Fine Tuned model uses the soil properties derived by the iterative method to represent reality with the highest accuracy and reaches, on average, 45 % more precision on the prediction of the deformation in comparison to the monitoring data than the Mean model.

Using the Fine Tuned model, sensitivity analysis of the wall to Boom Clay’s soil properties is performed. It revealed that φ′ had the highest impact relative to the other properties. Scenarios with thinner Boom Clay layers have been tested due to the relevant wedging geometry it follows in the project location. Additionally, the Fine Tuned model has been used to improve the prediction of future stages with data derived from earlier monitoring. The example studied was able to improve the prediction by 87 % in comparison to the initial design. In comparing the Design model with the Fine Tuned model, a problem with the anchor wall behavior is discovered that is attributed to the inability of PLAXIS to consider the shaft friction of the anchor rods. The Fine Tuned model, in combination with the fixity solution, allowed for an improvement in deformation accuracy of up to 95 %.

It is concluded that the actual design, despite over-predicting its deformations, produced a retaining wall validated by the Fine Tuned model. It is suggested that the Python Application should be used alongside the traditional designing process and in site engineering to reduce the risk by simulating the actual behavior and limits of the retaining wall.