Head:
Address:
Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT)
Institute for Water and Environment
- Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources Management -
Kaiserstrasse 12
76131 Karlsruhe
Phone: +49 (0)721 - 608-44418
Email: wasserbau∂iwu.kit.edu
Visiting address:
The challenges facing water managers and engineers nowadays are manifold, complex, and require cross disciplinary approaches. These challenges include the safety of hydraulic natural and built systems, ageing infrastructures, pollution, guarantee of energy and food security, sustainable development and safety of urban environment, ecological feedbacks and an uncertain future.
Our group develops research towards engineering solutions for the design, the planning and the implementation of sustainable water infrastructures prepared for global change. We investigate the mechanics of flowing water and its interaction with key elements of a river basin such as sediments, dissolved matter, gases, living organisms and people. More specifically, the group is committed to develop research on four main topics: sustainable and secure water for supply, food and energy; adaptive and multi-functional hydraulic systems; healthy rivers; and geophysical processes in rivers and lakes.
Globally, rivers have been found to contain high concentrations of microplastics and are also the major conveyors of microplastic pollution to the ocean. This has engendered an increased focus on microplastic sources, transport, and fate in riverine systems.
But how should we design microplastic monitoring plans for rivers if our goal is to quantify concentration, character, and flux?
Link to the seminar PDF file
On 18.12.2024, we held our Christmas party in a cosy atmosphere in Theodor-Rehbock-Wasserlabor.
The party was a great opportunity to look back on the past year with a presentation by Prof Franca and to look forward together to the goals ahead.
We enjoyed the festive season with a warm get-together, delicious food and happy moments.
In 2021, the flood hit the Ahr Valley and killed 135 people. In 2022, a third of the country in Pakistan was flooded. More than 15,000 people lost their lives. The south of Brazil was affected at the beginning of 2024. There, entire city districts sank into the raging floods. Hundreds drowned. Finally, in October, the east of Spain was hit: tens of thousands of buildings were damaged and thousands lost their livelihoods.
Due to climate change, catastrophic floods have become a terrible norm around the world. So it's high time to take the danger seriously and prepare for it.
The hydraulic engineer Peter Oberle has been researching how flood risks can be assessed as realistically as possible at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology for over twenty years. He is convinced that the state government in Baden-Württemberg is taking the danger very seriously. Unfortunately, this is not always the case at the local level.
Link to the interview
As part of our research on quality assurance and management in the context of numerical flow modeling, in cooperation with the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste (DWA) Working Group WW-1.7, we are currently conducting an international survey.
Further information and the link to the survey can be found on the project page. We invite you to participate in the survey!
Link to the project page
At the invitation of EnBW, the winning group of this year's construction competition was able to visit Machine 5 of the Power Plant Iffezheim on Friday, November 15, 2024, which is currently under revision.
The opportunity to see the Kaplan turbine with a runner diameter of 6.8 meters up close, and to hear detailed explanations about the operation and maintenance of the plant, provided them with a profound understanding of the complexity involved in such facilities.
It's not every day that one gets to witness the inner workings of a power plant, and this experience surely left a lasting impact on the students.
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On November 6, 2024, a delegation from Tongji University (China) led by the President of the Tongji University Council, Prof. Fang Shouen, accompanied by Dr. Kirsten Hennrich and Mr. Oliver Schmidt from KIT, visited the Theodor Rehbock River Engineering Laboratory for future collaborations in water and environmental sciences.
During the visit, Mário Franca gave a brief introduction of the institute, the laboratory, some of the team's current projects and also our international Master’s programme. Jiangtao Yang presented his research on the physical degradation of wood in rivers.
