Coastal Hazards Group
The Coastal Hazards Group in CCiBSE specialises in understanding the interaction of extreme seas with the built environment. The research develops an understanding of the forces, sediment scours, and other failure modes at coastal structures, helping engineers to mitigate the effects of extreme coastal inundations. This is achieved through a combination of physical and numerical modelling techniques.
The Group lead is Dr David McGovern Academic Staff
David has expertise in physical modelling of sediment scour, and fluid structure interactions.
Members :
Dr Keith Adams - Academic Staff
Keith researches cascading hazard risk, with focus on storm surge, extreme events, earthquake, landslides and tsunami. Linear infrastructure and heritage structures are of particular interest.
Mr Carlos Gonzalo - Academic staff
Carlos has expertise in fluid mechanics and innovation development.
Dr Sabana Parvin – KTP PDRA
Sabana is the KTP PDRA working on the TSuTwin Project. She has a PhD in Mathematics and expertise in CFD.
Mrs Niki Soleimani - PhD scholar - Research students
Niki is a PGR scholar Jan 2024 – 2027 researching tsunami scour at onshore structures through experimental and numerical methods.
Collaborators:
Professor Rodney Day - Academic staff
Rodney is PVC of Research and Enterprise at LSBU, and has a track record of hydraulic engineering and scour.
Recent Publications from the Laboratory:
- Observations from the EEFIT-TDMRC mission to Banda Aceh, Indonesia to investigate the recovery from the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. Baiguera, M., Raby, A., McGovern, D., Adams, K., Meilianda, E., Idris, Y. and Veriyanti, V.
- Large-Scale Experiments On Tsunami Inundation And Overtopping Forces At Vertical Sea Walls McGovern, D., Allsop, W., Rossetto, T and Chandler, I. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coastaleng.2022.104222
- Experimental observations of tsunami induced scour at onshore structures. McGovern, D, Todd, D, Rossetto, T, Whitehouse, RJS, Monaghan, J and Gomes, E https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coastaleng.2019.103505
Funding wins:
2023 AKT269: Tsunami Experimental Study £36k, PI Dr McGovern
2024 - 2026: KTP LSBU HR Wallingford - TsuTWin. £200k PI Dr McGovern, Co-I Mr Carlos Gonzalo
Sept 2024 - May 2025: COASTVUL-SLR: Coastal Structure Vulnerability to Sea Level Rise. £8,998. PI Dr McGovern
Aug 2024 - Aug 2025: SRLanCER: Sea-Level Rise on Sri Lankan Coastal Environments: Risk, Vulnerability, and Impact. £9975. PI Dr McGovern
TsuTWin - Tsunami Twin Wave Generation Laboratory
TsuTWin is a £200k Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with HR Wallingford to develop the world's first physical laboratory for tsunami wave train and return flow generation.
Currently there is no method to generate the deadly return flow of tsunami - a major cause of destruction. Neither is there any method to generate repeat waves, otherwise known as tsunami wave trains. TsuTWin will change that by developing a laboratory generation system that will be able to generate incoming, returning and multiple tsunami waves. This will lead to better facilities for scientists and engineers to understand how these waves are so destructive and mitigate against them. Ultimately protecting life and property.
The project is funded by Innovate UK, PI Dr David McGovern, and administered by Nil Atmaca. For further information, please contact David McGovern or Nil Atmaca.
COASTVUL-SLR
Funder: Lloyds Registry Foundation
PI: Dr David McGovern
Co-I: Dr Keith Adams
Co-I: Dr Ravindra Jayaratne (External, UEL)
Co-I: Prof Rodney Day
COASTVUL-SLR will help reveal the effect of sea level rise on the future efficacy of contemporary coastal defence infrastructure in the UK. Specifically, how projected SLR will affect two damage pathways affecting coastal structures. 1) development of a large scour trench around structure foundations, and 2) hydrostatic and hydrodynamic loading on structures.
SRLanCER:
Funder: LSBU REI
PI: Dr David McGovern
Co-I: Dr Ravindra Jayaratne (External, UEL)
Climate change (CC) and Sea Level Rise (SLR) pose a significant threat to current coastal defence infrastructure. This includes natural (e.g., mangroves, coastal forests, dunes) and artificial (breakwaters, seawalls, flood levees). CC & SLR is a worldwide issue, and less developed nations are, arguably at greater risk. For Sri Lanka’s coastlines there is a lack of knowledge of the vulnerability and mitigation strategies for CC & SLR due to a lack of academic expertise, and institutional and economic infrastructure. The academic purpose of this collaboration is achieved in an initial scoping project that will address this vulnerability and develop avenues for collaboration and further research.
Tsunami Scour
Tsunami scour is a major cause of structural failure in events such as the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami and the 2011 Great Eastern Japan Tsunami. Scour is the removal of sediment around the foundations of structures under tsunami attack. Currently one PhD international scholar is using experimental data to develop a numerical model to understand the process fully.
For further information contact Mrs Niki Soleimani
Tsunami interactions with coastal structures
Our external Collaborators:
University College London
HR Wallingford Ltd.
University of East London