The effects of ongoing climate and socio-economic change have been exemplified by the serious disasters in recent years in the US (Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Sandy) and France (Tempête Xynthia) where extensive loss of life and property damage occurred following levee failures or overflows. Waterfronts and levees remain a critical part of flood risk management. An international team from France, Germany, Netherlands, USA and UK/Ireland have identified the need for a new comprehensive guidance handbook on the subject. 
The International Levee Handbook (ILH) project, coordinated by CIRIA, has pulled together current knowledge, experience and research into a single, comprehensive handbook. It is a compendium of good practice, offering comprehensive guidance on the design, construction, maintenance and improvement of levees and describing the international state of the art on these matters. It also offers a decision support framework for competent engineers, rather than a prescriptive decision making code of practice looking at specific challenges during the life cycle of levees.
In the Netherlands STOWA coordinated all Dutch contributions. Waterfronts NL founding member Grontmij took the lead of the chapter 10: Construction, and together with Royal HaskoningDHV, HR Wallingford, Deltares, and Fugro contributed in several other chapters.
The Handbook (over 1000 pages) is available on CIRIA's website.
