Archive

Six days of storms in a row in the Netherlands, something that never happened before until last February. The number of storms is increasing and wind gusts are getting stronger. In combination with the rising sea level, this calls for innovative ways to protect our country from flooding.

"We are concerned about the impact of ship emissions on our climate. But we should also start worrying about the effect of climate change on shipping." This statement was made by professor Mark van Koningsveld in his inaugural speech. Held at TU Delft on Friday 10 June during the Port & Waterways symposium.

TU Delft and the Port of Rotterdam Authority are developing a new data platform for ground-retaining constructions. The data platform will make it easier to decide how and when ground-retaining structures, such as quay walls and sheet piling, need to be managed. On June 8, during the Port & Waterways conference, Egbert van der Wal, Director of Port Development, Stefan Aarninkhof, professor of hydraulic engineering (CEG), signed a 'Memorandum of Understanding' in which the joint effort and cooperation with among others DigiShape and SmartPort, was ratified.

Within the Dutch National Research Agenda (NWA) 'Bridges and Quay Walls in Urban Areas' one of the research projects has been awarded to associate professor Mandy Korff, researcher at TU Delft Civil Engineering and Geosciences (CEG) and Deltares. The research, 'live insights for bridges and quay walls,' shortened to 'LiveQuay'.

In order to become climate neutral by 2050, the share of renewable energy generated at sea will need to increase significantly. Floating wind turbines, solar panels and tidal power plants will play a crucial role in this.

If it is up to the European Commission, all the energy used will come from renewable sources by 2050. Achieving this goal will require the large-scale use of floating wind turbines, says Axelle Viré, wind expert at TU Delft. ‘Although the technology is still in its infancy, it has enormous potential,’ she explains. ‘To capitalise on this potential, TU Delft is launching the Floating Renewables Lab: a lab facility that will tie together all the elements of the development chain for floating wind turbines and other offshore renewables with the help of numerical models and AI.’

Ridding the oceans of plastic waste is a huge undertaking which would be significantly helped if the location of the plastic waste could be ascertained with some accuracy. Wave expert Ton van den Bremer is using waves and satellites to track down the ‘phantom’ plastic that is polluting our oceans.

The canals and quaysides in historic cities such as Amsterdam, Delft and Utrecht make a pretty picture. In order for these often busy cities to remain safe, the quay walls, some over 300 years old and built on wooden piles, need to be well maintained.

On March 31th, Dr. Thu-Ha Nguyen successfully defended her thesis on wave-overtopping processes for very mild sloping and shallow foreshores, supervised by Marcel Stive and Bas Hofland. For Marcel, this was a special occasion, as Thu-Ha was his last PhD in his role of promotor here at TU Delft. Starting back in 2003 with a tall Dutchman who obtained his degree with a thesis on Argus video imaging, Marcel has acted as the promotor of no fewer than 51 PhD candidates, 46 at TU Delft and 5 at other academic institutes.