About Jebbe van der Werf

Dr.ir. Jebbe van der Werf is a specialist in the field of sediment transport and coastal morphology. He has more than 20 years of experience with leading and participating in coastal research and consultancy projects, both in The Netherlands, Europe, USA and Africa.

His key expertise is the design and monitoring of coastal nourishments. Coastal sand nourishments – the addition of sand to increase the beach volume – are potentially a key method to sustainably adapt to accelerated SLR and keep the low-lying hinterland protected against coastal flooding. At the same time, nourishments enable other coastal functions and values, like nature and recreation, as well.

Nourishment design starts with a sound understanding of the morphodynamics of the coastal system. This understanding is based on a combination of data-analysis, numerical modelling and expert judgement. It also accounts for other aspects, such as ecology and construction costs, in close co-operation with other experts, coastal authorities and stakeholders.

This integral approach has been successfully applied to e.g. the Sand Motor mega-nourishment along the Holland Coast, the Roggenplaat intertidal shoal nourishment in the Eastern Scheldt estuary and the nourishment in the mouth of the Scheldt-estuary. Nourishment design is ideally complemented by a thorough monitoring plan to evaluate the nourishment behavior and impact, in relation to the objectives.

He established a strategic collaboration between Deltares and the University of Twente (UT) on research into coastal sand dynamics. This includes fundamental research into wave-driven sand transport, as well as making academic research available to the coastal engineering community by implementing and testing new formulations for sand transport processes in morphological modeling systems like Delft3D, XBeach and OpenFoam.

His combined Deltares-UT affiliation enabled him to acquire the 5.5 million euros research project SOURCE that will deliver the scientific knowledge, models and design tools to develop and evaluate nourishment strategies in a multi-stakeholder co-creation process, see https://www.utwente.nl/en/et/news/2023/7/1043423/large-nwa-orc-grant-for-research-into-sand-nourishments-for-a-climate-proof-coast

Key projects:

1. SOURCE: Sand nOURisment strategies for sustainable Coastal Ecosystems, 2024-2030. NWA-ORC project, funded by the Dutch Research Council (NOW).
2. SEDIMARE: Sediment Transport and Morphodynamics in Marine and Coastal Waters with Engineering Solutions, 2023-2027. Marie-Curie ITN project, funded by the EU.
3. Coastal Genesis 2.0: applied research program to support coastal nourishment policy, 2017-2020. Funded by the operational agency of the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat).

Key publications:

1. Van der Werf, J.J. et al. (2022). Observations of near-bed orbital velocities and small-scale bedforms on the Dutch lower shoreface. Ocean and Coastal Management 218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2021.106012
2. Van der Werf, J.J. et al. (2019). An integral approach to design the Roggenplaat intertidal shoal nourishment. Ocean and Coastal Management 217, 30-40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2019.01.023
3. Van der Werf, J.J. et al. (2007). Detailed measurements of velocities and suspended sand concentrations over full-scale ripples in regular oscillatory flow. Journal of Geophysical Research 112, F02012. https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JF000614