Press Release
Hydraulics & Maritime Research Centre Media Contacts:
Dr. Jimmy Murphy, HMRC, UCC (Coastal Engineering Manager)
Tel: +353 (0) 21 425 0023 or Email: jimmy.murphy@ucc.ie
Laura Curtin, COMMUNiCATE PR (Account Director)
Tel: +353 (0) 86 8537043 or Email: laura@communicatepr.ie
Planning Flood Defences and protection of Coastal Structures have to become
priority for Ireland
European Seminar focuses
Cork, February 4th 2009: The Hydraulics & Maritime Research Centre at University College Cork and Cork City
recently hosted a seminar on Flood Defences and Coastal Structures on Friday, January 30th in UCC. The seminar
highlighted the engineering design and management challenges facing Ireland in the 21st century. Cllr Brian
Bermingham, Lord Mayor of Cork delivered the opening keynote address, highlighting the importance of such
events at disseminating vital information. Delegates representing Local Authorities, Government Department
Engineers, Consulting and Contracting Engineers, Coastal Managers, Environmentalists and Hydrologists were in
attendance. This event was supported by the EU ENCORA project.
Importantly the seminar addressed issues around environmental loadings, catchment / river flooding, extreme
events and coastal structures. Nine presentations were delivered on crucial topics affecting Ireland:
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Irelands Changing Rainfall Pattern
Storm Patterns and Sea Level Trends
Future Climate Trends and Impacts
Ireland Flood Defence Strategy
Design and Implementation of various Flood Defence Schemes
UK Flood Risk Management Strategy
Development of Irelands Coastal Protection Strategy
Design Developments in Coastal Structures
Climate proofing coastal structures
The individual presentations provided vital information to delegates on what challenges Ireland is facing and how
best to meet them proactively and effectively.
Speakers presented not only proof that our climate is changing but also that there is great difficulty in predicting
what will happen into the future. There is evidence that Ireland’s precipitation patterns are changing with the
tendency now for wetter winters and drier summers. The west of Ireland is most affected by heavier winter rainfall.
It was suggested that a rainfall event with a previous return period of 1 in 30 years could now have a return period of
1 in 10 years. Drier summers may not necessarily be good as they could on occasion lead to droughts and water
shortages. Extremely wet summers, like that in 2008, does not disprove the general trend as weather will always
naturally fluctuate.
Regarding sea level rise it is agreed that the mean water level is rising by about 2mm/year but the question is
whether this rate will stay constant into the future or accelerate. Factors relating to the behaviour of the polar ice
sheets, permafrost and greenhouse gases will influence the rate of acceleration of sea level rise. In addition it was
stated that we will not see the positive effects of cutting greenhouse gas emissions (on our climate) until the middle
of this century at the earliest.
Speaking at the importance of hosting such seminars Dr. Jimmy Murphy, HMRC Coastal Engineering Manager
and Seminar organiser, commented “Even though there is uncertainty regarding our future climate engineers and
planners still need to design and manage flood defence and coastal structures today and a major part of the
seminar dealt with how that could be achieved. The OPW is principally responsible for flood defences and over the
last number of years they have been actively studying the major catchments and developing a strategic approach to
dealing with the problems in Ireland. Various options are available when dealing with flooding and education is
often as important as structural intervention. People need to know their level of risk and what to do in the event of a
flood occurring”
UK flood risk assessment techniques were examined as well a number of their more successful flood defence
schemes. Each project had its own particular set of problems which often have to be solved in an innovative
manner. An example was given of a flood defence scheme that was so unobtrusive and blended so naturally with
the surroundings that only locals knew its true purpose.
Another key challenge for Ireland is coastal erosion and strategies for protecting and managing our coastline were
discussed. Ireland is currently in the latter stages of developing a coastal protection strategy that has involved
significant field work, mapping and modelling. The responsibility for protecting the coast will soon rest with the OPW
due to the phasing out of the Department of Marine by successive governments. Research output has increased
knowledge on the behaviour of coastal structures and this in now being translated to specific design rules. Climate
proofing structures against future uncertainties was examined and different types of solutions were presented. It is
noteworthy that building bigger is not necessarily the answer but adaptability is the key to any future works on our
coasts.
The seminar proved to be very educational, interactive and dynamic. Delegates commented afterwards that many
of the presentations were ‘evocative’ and ‘though provoking’ and would help practicing engineers to think ‘outside
the box’ when considering solutions to flooding and coastal erosion problems. Many saw great value in such a
focused one day event and requested that similar type events be organised in the future. .
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Notes to Editors:
Photography:
Captioned Photography Syndicated by Tony O’ Connell Photography
About HMRC:
The Hydraulics & Maritime Research Centre (HMRC) at University College Cork was established in 1979. It is a centre of
excellence within Ireland for Coastal Engineering and Ocean Renewables, providing support to the maritime industry as
well as fundamental R&D. The Centre, which is principally a dedicated research facility, also offers a teaching and
education function. It houses the only facilities for wave simulation in Ireland with a Wave Flume and an Ocean Wave
Basin. For more information visit http://hmrc.ucc.ie/
About ENCORA:
The EU funded ENCORA project has been initiated to improve sharing of knowledge and experience within Europe. It
organises a number of services enabling coastal professionals to take better advantage of existing knowledge resources
in Europe, for tackling the challenges posed by the future to our coasts. For more information visit http://www.encora.eu/