The Netherlands: PusAir Employees Visit Deltares

Employees of PusAir, the Indonesian knowledge and research institute for water management, paid a visit to Deltares between 14 and 18 January in order to learn more about Dutch coastal modelling methods and examine the opportunities for exchanging knowledge.

PusAir is keen to find out more about coastal development and management. With more than 17,000 islands, this is a major and complex challenge for Indonesia. There is a lot of development work taking place on the coast, including the expansion of ports and land reclamation, but many locations have been affected by erosion and sedimentation processes that threaten the safety of the water, among other things. Because of the many research questions that this all entails, PusAir opened a special laboratory with experimental facilities for coastal modelling research in 2012 on Bali, the Experimental Station for Coastal Experimental (ESCE).

PusAir sought contact with Deltares because the institutes have more than thirty years’ experience of exchanging knowledge with each other. Until now, this has primarily concerned the field of river management, but during the recent visit, the guests looked at whether and how this could be extended to coastal modelling. A great deal of time was set aside for exchanging knowledge about setting up and carrying out laboratory model research at coasts and ports, and the numerical modelling of flow (Delft3D) and waves (SWAN).

The Indonesians also looked very closely at Deltares’ experimental facilities, both in Delft and the Noordoostpolder (Deltagoot). Their attention was directed chiefly at wave basins, in which the interaction between waves and a scale model can be researched in laboratory conditions. A wave machine is used to generate waves with the desired characteristics (such as wave height).

PusAir is based in Bandung (Java) and carries out a wide range of activities, including river studies, hydraulic engineering, water management, geotechnical engineering, and the management of low-lying areas and river basins. It is part of the government (the Ministry of Public Works), but also has a commercial arm, and employs around 500 people.

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Press Release, January 29, 2013