The Coastal Engineering Research Center or CoastER Center is the country’s first coastal engineering and management research and development center and the hub of innovations for coastal resiliency. This facility will spur the development of innovations that address coastal erosion, development construction materials for coastal protection, policies, and guidelines intended to protect resources from coastal flooding and improve the lives of people in coastal communities. It will also bolster the capability of Filipino engineers towards coastal engineering leading to the development of a master’s degree for coastal engineering.

Video about the Center

Objective

Generally, the project aims to (1) develop science-based technologies and innovations to address coastal risk and management; (2) develop the human resource capital of HEIs in Region 1 towards coastal engineering research and management; and (3) formulate policies that will enhance the resiliency of coastal communities to flooding and storm surge.

Specifically, the project sought to:

1. establish trends and possible causes of coastal erosion along the coasts of Region 1;
2. identify hotspot of erosion and recommend options of management that can be considered by the local government units;
3. develop and establish tidal and wave monitoring system for coastal flooding management
4. assess the hazards of selected coastal municipalities of Region 1 to flooding and storm surge events
5. develop a management plan to address coastal flooding and inundation of coastal municipalities
6. develop sustainable smart concrete technology as a material for coastal infrastructure
7. establish a coastal engineering laboratory to serve as a venue to develop, test, and evaluate coastal flood infrastructure designs
8. develop a web-based portal for real-time monitoring of tidal and wave height; and
9. capacitate faculty and researchers in coastal engineering, disaster risk assessment, and coastal flood modeling.
10. conduct trainings and workshops to enhance the capacities of LGUs and local communities to utilize and integrated the research outputs in their local disaster risk management and programs.

Center Researchers

Research Projects

In partnership with University of the Philippines-Diliman, Don Mariano Marcos Memorial, State University, Department of Public Works and Highways, Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE), Kyoto University, and Department of Science and Technology, the CoastER banners four major projects:

• Coastal erosion trends and management strategies
• Assessment, instrumentation, and prediction of coastal flooding
• Development of nature-based solutions for coastal protection, and
• Development of science-based decision support system as platform for coastal flood information and risk management