Scour and erosion specialists from more than 30 countries met in Oxford, UK from 12-15 September at ICSE 2016, the 8th International Conference on Scour and Erosion, hosted by engineering and environmental hydraulics research organisation, HR Wallingford.
The conference provided a platform for scientists and engineers from around the world to exchange ideas, and share advances in research and practice on the challenges related to the prevention of scour and erosion damage to structures such as bridges, dams, offshore structures and pipelines, and seabed cables.
Research on the ‘Hydrodynamics of Sediment Transport’ opened the conference, with keynote speaker Professor Subhasish Dey from the Department of Civil Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India, explaining the complex role of sliding, rolling and lifting modes in sediment entrainment.
Over 130 papers were presented during the four-day event to an international audience of scientists and engineers from the broad areas of civil engineering, hydraulic engineering, geotechnical engineering, coastal and offshore engineering. Topics covered included the fundamental mechanisms of erosion and scour, modelling (both physical and numerical) of erosion and scour processes and engineering applications that involve scour and erosion processes.
Professor Richard Whitehouse, Technical Director, HR Wallingford, said: “We have been delighted to host ICSE 2016. One of the strong features of the ICSE conferences has been the cross disciplinary collaborations and exchanges between geotechnical and hydraulic engineers, and we wanted to continue this tradition and build on the success of previous ICSE conferences.”
The conference was held at the Andrew Wiles Building, home of Oxford Mathematics, which boasts the newest and largest purpose-built lecture theatres and conference facilities in Oxford, based in the heart of the historic Observatory Quarter.
Part of the programme included a technical site visit to HR Wallingford where delegates were able to visit the physical modelling facilities, including the Fast Flow Facility, opened last year, and also tour the UK Ship Simulation Centre.
Technical Committee 33 of the International Society for Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE) held the first ICSE Conference in 2002 in Texas, USA, since when the biennial event has been held in various cities around the world. Dr John Harris, Technical Director, HR Wallingford, added: "The conference series is currently run by the Technical Committee TC213 (Scour and Erosion), and HR Wallingford was very pleased to be the host for ICSE 2016, and bring it to Oxford for the first time."
ICSE 2018, due to be held in Taiwan in 2018, is now in its planning stages.
By Jake Frith
