Organization

With a 100-year history, the Ludwig-Franzius-Institute is a permanent address in the areas of coastal and flood protection, offshore wind energy and nature-based solutions (NbS). The institute is headed by Prof. Schlurmann since 2007 and has been expanded through his work with regard to interdisciplinary cooperation in ICZM, risk and vulnerability research and also in technical cooperation with developing countries. Since 2015, the profile is supplemented in the area of maritime technologies, e.g. offshore wind energy, by Jun.-Prof. Hildebrandt.

The Leichtweiß-Institute for Hydraulic Engineering (LWI) at Technische Universität Braunschweig is involved in FZK with the Department of Hydromechanics, Coastal and Ocean Engineering. In addition to hydraulic and numerical investigations on site, field research is also carried out at the coast and there is a large number of international co-operations with well-known scientists and universities, e.g. from the USA, Taiwan, Indonesia and Japan.

The Institute for Geotechnics (IGtH) at Leibniz University Hannover emerged from the teaching area of soil mechanics, weir and dam construction and hydroelectric power plants established in 1954 at the former Technical University of Hanover. In 1964, the chair was given the name Foundation Engineering, Soil Mechanics and Hydraulic Energy Engineering. After the incorporation of the Institute for Underground Construction in 2010, the institute received its current name.

Central current research questions at IGtH are the load-bearing behavior of the foundation elements of offshore wind turbines, especially under cyclic loads, the interaction between underground pipelines and the surrounding soil, and the design of caverns in rock salt for oil and gas storage.

The Institute for Geomechanics and Geotechnics (formerly foundation engineering and soil mechanics) of the Technical University of Braunschweig (IGG-TUBS) is active in coastal engineering in addition to classic soil and geomechanics. Current topics are currently the determination of the bearing load behavior when ramming and vibrating large pipes for the foundation of wind turbines (WEA); the determination of the cyclic lateral behavior of large pipes for wind turbines and dolphins in ports; the complete decommissioning of large wind turbine pipes; the use of existing large wind turbine pipes when driving over them with even larger pipes (keyword: repowering); dike monitoring methods; Methods of geotextiles and sealing sheets in coastal protection as well as the further development of geotechnical measurement techniques in the entire area mentioned above.