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PH’s first coastal engineering R&D center to rise in Ilocos Region

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As the country braces for the impacts of storm surges and tsunamis being one of the longest coastline in the world, the country’s first coastal engineering and management research and development center will soon rise in Ilocos region through the Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST’s) Science for Change Program (S4CP) – Niche Center in the Regions (NICER).

Severely damaged seawall along City of San Fernando, La Union due to strong waves brought by typhoon Lando.
(Photo from the Office of the Civil Defense Region 1 and Provincial Risk Reduction and Management Council)

Dubbed the Coastal Engineering Research Center or CoastER Center, the research facility will spur the development of innovations that address coastal erosion, developing construction materials for coastal protection, policies, and guidelines to promote coastal resiliency. These projects are 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 research by sending them to academic institutions for advance studies. The team behind CoastER Center is also looking into the development of a master’s degree for coastal engineering.


Seawall collapsed along the shoreline of Pasuquin, Ilocos Norte during the “habagat” last August 2018.
(Photo from the Office of the Civil Defense Region 1 and Provincial Risk Reduction and Management Council)

The center is slated to be established at the Mariano Marcos State University (MMSU) and will be partnering with the University of the Philippines Diliman, Department of Public Works and Highways, Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE), University of Tokyo, and DOST.

The CoastER Center will undertake these four major projects:

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


Seawall collapsed along the shoreline of Santa, Ilocos Sur during the “Habagat” last August of 2016.
(Photo from the Office of the Civil Defense Region 1 and Provincial Risk Reduction and Management Council)

As the monitoring agency of this project, the DOST-Philippine Council for Industry, Energy and Emerging Technology Research and Development (PCIEERD) is confident that this will strengthen coastal municipalities in mitigating the devastating impacts of typhoons.

“As a leader and preferred partner in enabling innovations that protect and equip Filipino communities, we deem that the CoastER Center will serve as a strong shield against coastal hazards. Once the innovations and strategies developed by the CoastER Center are tried and tested in the Ilocos Region, other coastal communities all over the Philippines can benefit from this knowledge base as well,” said Executive Director Dr. Enrico C. Paringit.


Seawall collapsed along the shoreline of Narvacan, Ilocos Sur during the enhanced monsoon rains last July 2015.
(Photo from the Office of the Civil Defense Region 1 and Provincial Risk Reduction and Management Council)

By 2024 and beyond, the center will upscale its developed technologies to include other municipalities in region 1 and nearby provinces.

For questions or clarifications, email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

 

 

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