Info@beliersolutions.com
ABOUT BELIER SOLUTIONS
Specialist in deterioration
ABOUT BELIER SOLUTIONS
Bélier Solutions was founded by Foekje Buijs in 2019. The company offers consultancy on deterioration, structural risk and reliability. The deterioration models were originally developed for flood defence systems. The theory is applicable to civil structures and infrastructure in general.
See more details in About Foekje Buijs
below, and at her LinkedIn
account.
About Foekje Buijs
Foekje Buijs started her expertise in the reliability of flood defences during her Msc at Delft University of Technology, in which software from the Netherlands was tailored to flood defences in Wales in the UK. After her Msc she continued to develop her expertise in a PhD based at HRWallingford, sponsored by the Thames 2100 reinforcement projectin the UK. Deterioration in the context of maintenance and inspection was the main focus during her PhD research, time-dependent reliability of flood defences. The term time-dependent was chosen to include for example processes at beaches that can reinforce itself morphologically in time. The methodology in her PhD captures that form of development.
Deterioration is an integral part of life cycle cost modelling. The place of deterioration in this life cycle cost model determines its relevance in maintenance and monitoring strategies. Sensitivity analysis in life cycle modelling focusses monitoring and remediation efforts on relevant structural characteristics.
Essential is to collate information about both practice and physical process development. Interviews with practitioners and experts spanning all flood defence types, relevant failure mechanisms and deterioration processes across England and Wales were conducted as part of the Defra / Environment Agency R&D programme.
Foekje's experience ranges from earth embankments, sheet pile walls, concrete walls, beaches and dunes to urban drainage systems such as sewers and point structures such as pumps and culverts. See her publications below.
Publications by Foekje Buijs
Publications related to deterioration
Buijs F.A. (2008), Time-dependent Reliability Analysis of Flood Defences, PhD Thesis, University of Newcastle-upon-tyne
Buijs, F.A., Hall, J.W., Sayers, P.B., Time-dependent Reliability Analysis of Flood Defences, Reliability Engineering and System Safety, 92, pp. 1942 - 1953.
Buijs, F.A., Hall, J.W., Sayers, P.B., Van Gelder, P.H.A.J.M. (2008), Time-dependent reliability analysis of anchored sheet pile walls. Proc. Conf. Floodrisk 2008,
Oxford, UK
Buijs, F.A., Hall, J.W., Sayers, P.B., Van Noortwijk, J.M., (2005), Time-dependent reliability analysis of flood defences using gamma processes, proc. ICOSSAR, Rome, Italy, June 2005
Publications related to reliability analysis
Buijs, F., Sayers, P., Gouldby, B., (2006), Preliminary reliability analysis on the Thames Estuary: Dartford Creek to Gravesend, Floodsite task 7, HR Wallingford, UK
Floodsite (2008), Task 7 – Reliability Analysis of Flood Defence Structures and Systems, Delft university of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands
Buijs, F. A., van Gelder, P.H.A.J.M., Vrijling, J.K., Vrouwenvelder, A.C.W.M, Hall, J.W., Sayers, P.B., Wehrung, M.J., (2003), Application of Dutch reliability-based flood defence design in the UK, proc. Conf. ESREL 2003
(1): 311-319, Maastricht, The Netherlands, June 15-18 2000
Van Gelder, P.H.A.J.M., Buijs, F.A., Ter Horst, W., Kanning, W., Mai Van, C., Rajabalinejad, M., De Boer, E., Gupta, S., Shams, R., Van Erp, N., Gouldby, B., Kingston, G., Sayers, P., Wills, M., Kortenhaus, A., Lambrecht, H.J. (2008), Reliability Analysis of Flood Defence Structures and Systems in Europe. Proc. Conf. Floodrisk 2008, Oxford, UK
Publications related to the fragility curve (reliability)
Buijs, F.A., Segura Domínguez, S., Sayers, P.B., Simm, J.D., Hall, J.W. (2005) Tiered reliability-based methods for assessing the structural performance of coastal defences, Proc. Conf. Coastlines, Structures and Breakwaters, London, UK, April 2005
HR Wallingford (2005), Performance and Reliability of Flood and Coastal Defences, FD2318/TR1, Wallingford, UK
Publications related to failure mechanisms
Floodsite, (2007), Failure mechanisms for flood defence structures,
Floodsite Task 4, HR Wallingford, Wallingford, UK
Morris, M., Allsop, W., Buijs, F., Kortenhaus, A., Doorn, N., Lesniewska, D. (2008), Failure modes and mechanisms of flood defence structures. Conf. Proc. Floodrisk 2008,
Oxford, UK
Buijs, F.A., (2008), Qualitative and quantitative reliability analysis of holes in embankments, Floodsite report, TUDelft and HR Wallingford.
Publications related to sensitivity analysis
Buijs, F.A., Hall, J.W., Sayers, P.B., (2007) Importance measures supporting the risk-based management of flood defences (in press), Proc. ICASP 10, Tokyo, Japan
Buijs, F.A., Hall, J.W., Sayers, P.B., (2005) Exploring sensitivity of flood defence reliability to time-dependent processes, Proc. Int. Conf. ISSH, Nijmegen, the Netherlands, May 2005
Publications related to uncertainties in sewer systems
Schellart, A.N.A., Buijs, F.A., Tait, S.J., Ashley, R.M., (2008), Estimation of uncertainty in long term combined sewer sediment behaviour predictions, Water Science & Technology, 57.9
Schellart, A.N.A., Buijs, F.A., Tait, S.J., Ashley, R.M., (2006) Uncertainty of sediment transport modelling in combined sewers for innovative management strategies, Proc. Conf. Urban Drainage Modelling and Water Sensitive Urban Design, Sydney, Australia, 2006