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Engineers Create The World’s Largest Manmade Waves

Engineers Create The World’s Largest Manmade Waves


As advanced as modern civilization might be, it still loses out on a regular basis to the forces of nature. And with good reason; hurricanes alone are natural disasters that attack with all of the elements simultaneously. But scientists haven’t been discouraged from trying just yet. In fact, they’re preparing for the worst as best they can — even if that means creating a contained version of it.

A research group stationed in the Netherlands has gone above and beyond. Over the course of two years, the Delta Flume facility was built to generate waves, up to and including waters as powerful as a tsunami. Naturally, those are within the facility’s bounds; a large steel wall generates the waves and pushes them down a long tank. From there, the waves can crash against — and by extension test the strength of — defensive measures like dams and barriers.

Right now, the biggest wave that Delta Flume has generated so far is more than sixteen feet tall. That’s a record in its own right, but the idea, and intent, is to create even larger ones. Given that nature can make bigger waves as well, it’s only natural that they put Delta Flume to work — just so they can be ready for the next big storm.