The Oxalia chair for sediment transport research

Business, Research, Utilisation/promotion
On  April 20, 2022
Julien Chauchat, lecturer at Grenoble INP – Ense3, UGA and researcher at LEGI*, is the holder of the new chair for industrial excellence from Fondation Grenoble INP and Artelia.
After graduating from a Master of Advanced Studies at the École Centrale de Nantes in 2001, there was no letting up for Julien Chauchat. Continuing with a doctoral thesis at the University of Caen on modeling sediment transport in estuary and coastal environments. Following that was a postdoctorate at the University of Aix-Marseille, then a position as a research professor at LEGI in Grenoble in 2009, where he continued his work on sediment transport. In 2015-2016, Chauchat also spent a year in the United States, researching at the University of Delaware in one of the world’s biggest centers for coastal engineering.

Why did he choose this area of research? “Certain climate events have an impact on the evolution of landscapes, geomorphology of rivers and coastal morphology, as well as infrastructure, bridges, roads and houses,” explains the researcher. “What motivates me is understanding and modeling the dynamics in the natural environment that surrounds us, to better predict long-term evolutions and build more sustainable infrastructure, reducing the material and human risks.” For example, LEGI is participating in an R&D project on offshore wind turbines, in collaboration with France Energies Marines.


Scouring, a central issue for the new chair


In 2015, the laboratory also started to collaborate with Artelia, an international and multidisciplinary consulting, engineering and project management group working in the construction, infrastructure, water, industry and environmental sectors. With the aim of developing its research activities, the group has recently created a chair for industrial excellence with the laboratory to investigate problems related to scouring, i.e. loss of sediment due to disruptive currents from a natural or artificial obstacle. “This phenomenon causes most of the world’s bridge collapses, for example,” adds Chauchat. “The economic and strategic stakes are huge.”
 
Published on  April 20, 2022
Updated on  April 20, 2022