Oxalia Chair of Excellence Expands Research into Plant Engineering to Protect River Scour – Grenoble INP Foundation and Artelia Group Sponsorship

Supported by the Grenoble INP Foundation thanks to the sponsorship of the Artelia group, the Oxalia chair of excellence focuses on research around the dynamics of multiphase flows, a flow of water in the presence of solid particles or air bubbles, which control erosion of rivers and coastlines, particularly around hydraulic and coastal structures. She is expanding her research into plant engineering.
After two years of operation, Artelia wishes to expand the scientific project by integrating a thesis on plant engineering works (solution based on nature), in order to better protect the scour of river meanders. This thesis, led by Natacha Fructus, will be supervised within the Grenoble unit of the Lyon-Grenoble-Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes center of Inrae. The program of this chair, initially planned for a duration of 4 years, is extended by 2 years (2021/2027).

Many advantages
Scour, a particular type of erosion, manifests itself as a localized depression of the river bed at the level of the banks or infrastructure, for example at the level of bridge piers. This phenomenon is not only observed around these structures, but is also common in river meanders, i.e. their curvatures, and occurs specifically on their outer sections. In order to protect the banks, plant engineering structures have several advantages over civil engineering structures: they promote biodiversity, provide shade and coolness, are often more economical and can, depending on the conditions, be mechanically as resistant as the structures. in civil engineering.

Establish recommendations
The objective of Natacha Fructus’ thesis is to respond to the lack of knowledge regarding the sizing of structures: “My thesis consists of understanding how the root structures of plants, combined with plant engineering techniques (dead wood structure for example), can contribute to the maintenance and structure of the bank, particularly in its submerged part. In particular, this involves studying the link between scour depth and bank vegetation by combining feedback, a physical study on a scale model and digital modeling. I thus hope to arrive at recommendations for the sizing of plant engineering works and thus facilitate its implementation. »
8 schools, 39 laboratories and 8,300 students
The chair of industrial excellence is supported by the Laboratory of Geophysical and Industrial Flows (LEGI) and Grenoble INP – Ense3, UGA, the transitions engineering school, specializing in energy, hydraulics and the environment. Since 2010, the Grenoble INP Foundation’s mission has been to support the ambition and development of the 8 schools, 39 laboratories and 8,300 engineering student managers that bring together Grenoble INP, the Institute of Engineering and Management of Grenoble Alpes University.

2024-02-06 11:04:03
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