Higher design waves and water levels, including the effects of sea level rise, present determining loads for drawing up the strength and stability of the discharge sluices in the Afsluitdijk. One of these loads is the wave impact load on the gates, supporting beams and bridge decks. At first, these loads have been calculated using a design approach which has been based on analytical models. It showed that these loads due to vertical wave impacts can be higher than the strength of the gates and the existing bridge decks. Therefore, load reduction measures are required. To better predict the wave impact loads, which strongly depend on the configuration of the gates and decks, a physical model study in a wave flume has been carried out at Deltares. In the model tests very high forces were measured due to wave impacts on the decks and the gates of the discharge channel.
