Delta Flume Produces Largest Man-Made Waves In The World

Dutch scientists have created a new research device called the Delta Flume that is designed to make the biggest man-made waves in the entire world. The Delta Flume is a 300-meter long water filled trough that is 9.5 meters high and 5 meters wide. It will be inaugurated today in Delft, the Netherlands.

The giant flume has a gigantic metal plate at one end called a wave board with four pistons that move it back and forth. The motion of the metal plate creates giant waves, much like the way a wave pool works at a water park.

The big waves created in the Delta Flume move to the opposite end of the flume and crash into whatever the scientists have placed at the other end. The sort of objects that will be placed at the other end include a new type of dyke, artificial sand dune, or a gravel beach.

The team could also place a pylon of the sort used to hold an offshore wind turbine for testing. Holland has been battling the sea for generations with much of the nation below sea level. A series of dykes and levees keep the sea out of habited lands and floods have killed citizens before.

SOURCE: Science Mag