Removal of riverbank protection along the River Rhine (the Netherlands)

The normalisation since the 1970s of the river IJssel, one of the three branches of the Lower Rhine, has resulted is riprap riverbank revetments along nearly its entire lenght. In 1995 a pilot project started to restore the transition zone from water to land, with shallow water and frequently flooded and morphologically dynamic biotopes. A post-project monitoring plan of 6 years was set up which included hydrological, morphological and ecological parameters.