International Workshop on Scour around Hydraulic and Coastal Structures

Quick links

• Keynote speakers
• Topics
• Registration fee
• Programme
• Venue and accomodation
• Letter of invitation
• Call for abstracts
• Organisation
• Contact

About the IAHR-SHCS

The International Workshop on Scour around Hydraulic and Coastal Structures (IWSHCS) was first held in Nanjing, China, in 2023. The second edition was organised in Chengdu, China, in 2024. The upcoming third edition of the workshop will be organised by Deltares and held in Delft at Deltares’ campus.

The goal of this workshop is to provide a platform to bring together researchers and practitioners to discuss the latest state-of-the-art on scour and scour protection research and its translation into practical guidance. The workshop aims to narrow the gap between science and engineering and to ensure that practice is supported by solid, high-quality scientific results.

Keynote speakers

Dr. Yuzhu Pearl Li

Dr. Yuzhu Pearl Li is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the National University of Singapore, where she leads the Computational Coastal Engineering Laboratory. She is a Humboldt Scholar and former Marie Curie Fellow.

Her research focuses on coastal and ocean engineering, with particular emphasis on wave–structure–seabed interaction, scour and sediment transport, breaking-wave turbulence, and climate-resilient coastal protection.

She develops advanced numerical models for coupling hydrodynamics, seabed response, sediment transport, and structural interaction, with applications to offshore foundations, coastal infrastructure, and nature-based protection systems.

She serves as Associate Editor of Coastal Engineering and is on the editorial boards of several international journals.

Her research has been recognised through awards including the Marie Curie Alumni Association Career Award and the Robert Brown Promising Researcher Award from Singapore’s Ministry of Education.

Nina Stark, PhD

Nina Stark, PhD, Professor, Director of the University of Florida Center for Coastal Solutions Nina Stark is the faculty lead of the University of Florida coastal & marine geotechnics research group and the Director of the Center for Coastal Solutions.

Nina has received her MS (Diploma) in Geophysics in 2007 from the Westphalian Wilhelms University Muenster, Germany, and her PhD in Marine Geotechnics in 2011 from the University of Bremen, Germany.

She was faculty at Virginia Tech from 2013-2023 and joined the University of Florida in 2023. Nina received the NSF CAREER award in 2018, the ONR Young Investigator Award in 2018, and was leading the SERDP Project of the Year in 2022.

Her research is focused on geotechnical site characterisation of shallow seabed sediments and coastal zones for naval and civil applications as well as on geomechanics of seabed sediments in energetic subaquatic environments and with regards to natural hazards.

Michele Palermo

Michele Palermo is Associate Professor at the University of Pisa.

His main research interests include localised scour phenomena downstream of hydraulic structures, the design of eco-friendly structures for river restoration, physical and theoretical modeling of hydraulic processes, and hydraulic jumps over rough beds.

He has participated in numerous national and international research projects and serves on the Editorial Boards of several international journals.

Michel Ruijter

Michel Ruijter has been active in coastal and civil engineering since 1990, with a career dedicated to combining field measurements with practical consultancy. His work focuses on translating evidence from field investigations, physical modelling and numerical analysis into robust engineering guidance for hydraulic coastal and maritime infrastructure.

In this presentation, he will discuss recent investigations into ship-induced erosion near quay walls and canal beds. Traditionally, erosion protection in these environments has consisted of rock armour placed on the bed and filled with concrete or asphalt.

Recent research and field measurements conducted by TU-Delft master students and colleagues indicate that ship-induced currents and erosion near quay walls and beneath vessels are significantly lower than previously anticipated.

The investigations were carried out in collaboration with three TU Delft master’s students, supported by scale-model tests performed by Deltares and CFD calculations by MARIN. Together, these independent lines of evidence confirmed the main findings, and the results are expected to be incorporated into the CROW guidelines.

Alongside this research, Ruijter is involved in harbour-related projects on the Dutch Caribbean islands of Saba and Sint Eustatius. Outside his professional work, he enjoys spending time on the water through sailing and living aboard, and he aims to undertake a long-distance hike each year.

Topics

The workshop is organised by the IAHR Scour Research Working Group (WG). The workshop topics are therefore centred around the WG ambitions:

• Physical modelling techniques and scale effects for scour research
• Numerical modelling and integration of AI/Scientific Machine Learning
• Eco-friendly scour protection techniques
• Advances in real-time monitoring techniques for scour development
• General topics related to scour, coastal and hydraulic structures

Registration fee

The (early-bird) registration fees have been set as follows:

• IAHR members: €450
• Non-IAHR members: €500
• Students: €225

Registrations submitted after 21 July will incur an additional fee of +50.

Additional fees apply for the conference dinner (85 euro) and the technical tours (75 euro)

Programme

While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the programme, we reserve the right to make changes should circumstances necessitate this.

Download the detailed programme for Tuesday and Wednesday

Thursday 01-10-2026

As part of the workshop programme, attendees will have the opportunity to join a technical excursion to the Maasvlakte, one of the world's most innovative and dynamic port and coastal infrastructure areas. The excursion will include a guided tour through the port area, combined with an exclusive boat trip offering unique views of port facilities and ongoing maritime operations.

The excursion is designed to provide valuable insights into large-scale coastal and maritime infrastructure while also offering an excellent opportunity for networking in an informal setting. Departure from Deltares is planned for the morning, with return expected between 15:00 - 15:30 at the latest. Final programme details and practical information will be communicated to the registered participants closer to the event.

Please note that the excursion programme may be subject to minor adjustments depending on operational and logistical circumstances.

Venue and Accommodation

The conference will be held at Deltares, in Delft (Boussinesqweg 1, 2629 HV Delft, The Netherlands). Deltares’ campus in Delft contains all facilities required for the workshop and is located close to the TU Delft.

There is ample opportunity for accommodation in the city centre of Delft. We'd like to recommend Hotel Royal Bridges, Hotel de Koophandel en Hotel de Plataan. Participants can also find suitable hotels via platforms such as Tripadvisor.

Letter of Invitation

A formal Letter of Invitation for visa purposes can be issued upon request after registration is completed. This letter is intended to assist with visa applications and fundraising efforts and does not constitute financial support from the congress organisers.

Call for abstract

Authors who are still interested in submitting an abstract for this conference may still do so. Please send a message to shcs2026@deltares.nl to ask about the possibilities.

Host organisations

Deltares, Delft, The Netherlands, and Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands

Chair of the organising committee

Yorick Broekema, Deltares

Special consultants

• Dawei Guan, Hohai University
• Tiago Ferradosa, FEUP

Local organising/scientific committee

TU Delft: Maria Pregnolato, Bas Hofland, Raj Kamal Arora, and Marcel van Gent (TU Delft and Deltares)

Rijkswaterstaat: Willem Frederik Louwersheimer,

Deltares: Pim van Steijn, Thijs Robijns, Bram Langeveld, Rick Veldhuizen, Natalia Silva-Munoz, Ioanna Saxoni, Antine Reddingius, Desiree Plenker, Joost Kranenborg, Lynyrd de Wit, Minghao Wu, and Radha Ramoutar.

International Scientific Committee

Members of the IAHR Scour Research Working Group (WG).

Contact us for more information

Please send an email if you have questions or need more information.

Send an email