[tech-no-logical]

if the requirements say 7 meters (the sea level rise if greenland is ice free) building higher dikes will not work. and although that is a long-term scenario, it is not unlikely. hence the 'not if, but when' in the article.

[jacquesm]

Why won't dikes not work?

[WJW]

I wonder about this too. We have several dikes already that are much higher than seven metres. From everything I hear, we're not anywhere near the limits of feasible dike height, not in terms of engineerable strength nor in economic feasability (they're mostly just earth walls, after all).

[jacquesm]

That, and dikes need not be made of earth, they can have concrete as well.

The biggest risks with dikes are seepage and shifting, especially a problem with old river dikes before we properly understood how to make them.