This paper gives a historical overview of 2D and 3D hydrodynamic modelling in The Netherlands from the 1960s till now. It started in the 1960s with 2D (depth-averaged) shallow sea modelling for practical applications of the Dutch government. The most important application was the Dutch ‘Delta works’ project, which was initiated after the February 1953 flood disaster in The Netherlands. In the late 1980s, 3D shallow water modelling in The Netherlands started due of the advance in computing power. This was also needed for 3D water quality modelling. This paper summarizes ‘proven technology’ in hydrodynamic shallow water modelling with Simona and Delft3D that has been applied in the past decades in The Netherlands and abroad. From the 1960s till now, the hydrodynamic modelling in The Netherlands has been based on structured grids. In 2011, a transition started in The Netherlands towards unstructured modelling (Delft3D FM Suite), which will be discussed as well.

For more info and 8.000+ Delft3D publications, please go to: https://oss.deltares.nl/web/delft3dfm/publications or https://doi.org/10.1007/s10236-019-01336-5