Coastal Award 2015 Goes to Professor Marcel Stive

Professor Marcel Stive of the Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands, has won the biannual Coastal Award that will be presented at the Coastal Sediments conference in San Diego, USA.

The announcement was made on October 15th by the Organizing Committee of the Coastal Sediments conference that will be held May 11-15, 2015, at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay in San Diego, California.

The Coastal Award is given to an outstanding engineer or scientist who has made significant contributions to the field of coastal sediments throughout his career. Professor Stive, one of the inventors of the Sand engine, a 128-acre artificial peninsula off the Dutch coast, with this innovative and new way of beach nourishment has more than deserved the award.

Professor Stive is Head of the Hydraulic Engineering Department at Delft University of Technology and has a long experience in research and projects in the fields of hydraulic engineering, coastal morphodynamics, coastal biogeomorphology and coastal and estuarine management.

His record involves coasts, estuaries, harbors and offshore projects in several countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas. He has written many publications on a variety of topics, ranging from geology to hydraulic engineering and coastal zone management and holds an European Research Council Advanced Researchers Nearshore Modeling and Monitoring (NEMO) Grant on long term large scale coastal evolution.

In 2012, he received an Honorary Doctorate from Lund University, Sweden. In 2013, he was knighted in the Order of the Dutch Lion.

The Sand Engine project along the coastline of the Dutch Province of Zuid-Holland placed around 21.5 million m³ of sand in the sea in the shape of a hook that rises above the water line. The base of the hook has been connected to the coastline at Ter Heijde. Wind, waves and ocean currents gradually distribute the sand along the coast. ‘Building with nature’ in this way ensures natural sand distribution along the coast, enabling the coastline to grow naturally.

Thus The Sand Engine protects the coast and creates new land for conservation and recreational purposes at the same time.

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Dredging Today Staff