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Flood Protection
Last Updated: 2026-06-04 00:21:15
Abstract
Concepts and structural measures to prevent or mitigate flood damage, planning methods to implement projects in practice
Objective
To get to know processes leading to flood damage, the different concepts and structural measures allowing to prevent or mitigate flood damage, as well as promising practical planning methods to implement flood protection measures in practice.
Content
Explanation of relevant processes: flooding, aggradation, sedimentations, erosion, debris flows. Concept of different objectives of protection for various land uses (from rural areas to industrial regions). General possibilities of flood protection / control. Land use planning on the basis of hazard zones. Classical procedures against flood damage with the use of examples such as increase of flow capacity, release structures, flood detention basins, polder. Property protection as continuative measure. Maintenance. Considering of overload case, Emergency procedures. Damage determination and risk analysis. Management of residual risk. Conflict of objective during implementation of procedures. Situatively adjusted approach. Handling driftwood. Surface runoff. Examples of projects in Switzerland. Case studies (group work). Field trip.
Resources
Lecture Notes
Flood protection script
Literature
Guidelines of Swiss federal administration (especially Federal Office for the Environment, FOEN)
General Information
- Language
- English
- Levels
- MSC
- Frequency
- Yearly recurring
Examination
- Type
- graded semester performance
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| lecture with exercise |
Flood Protection
Former title until FS23 (in German): Hochwasserschutz
Some lectures or the offered excursion may be still in German; however, the course can be passed without knowledge in German.
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2 h weekly |
Offered In
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Electives (The entire course programs of ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich are open to the students to individual selection. The students have themselves to check whether they meet the admission requirements for a course.)
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Elective Modules (For all majors.)
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EM: Hydraulic Engineering (Elective Module for Majors "Environmental Technologies", "Resource Management", " Urban Water Management" and "Water Resources Management".)
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