ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the loads to which a flood defence is subjected, that is, loads caused by water, wind, traffic, and dead weight. By far, the most important load on river defences, either direct or indirect, is constituted by the floods to be retained. This load is expressed in water pressures where a distinction can be made between, on the one hand, the hydrostatic water pressure against slopes, on the other hand, pore-water pressures in the pores of the particle skeleton of the dike body and the subsoil. The actions evoked by wind on a flood defence can manifest itself in various ways, such as: wave attack on the flood defence characterized by wave run-up against the outer slope and waves overtopping the crest and the static and dynamic wind loads which are transmitted to the flood defence through structures and objects present in the flood defence.
