ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the starting-points for the design. It considers the safety measures against flooding, management and maintenance, the scenic, historico-cultural, and ecological values, and the cost aspects. When designing a dike, the requirements to be met can be formulated from several points of view. Obviously, the dike should offer the required extent of protection against flooding. The first requirement with which the dike should comply, concerns the amount of protection offered against the inundation of the area behind the dike. Management and maintenance of a flood defence are directed at the continuous guarantee of safety. It is recommended that proper management and maintenance conditions should be created in the design stage. The many, and sometimes even contradictory, requirements that can be put forward regarding the dike design can result in high cost. The question must then be asked if these cost are justifiable.
