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Sailing Ahead - January 2006
Set sail for Estoril
 Only three months are separating us from PIANC's 31st congress in the beautiful city of Estoril. The PIANC Congress returns to Portugal fifty-seven years after the 17th Congress (Lisbon, 1949) and it will continue a whole series of successful PIANC congresses, the world's premier forum on navigation, waterways and related subjects.
The organizers of this year's congress have strived to design not only a technical programme, but also a social programme, that will please many among us. The congress is a must to all those who are well familiar with the world of navigation.
As we are only three months away from this important event, make sure you register in time. A leaflet about the Estoril congress has been distributed together with our magazine "On Course" 122 and the official website, especially dedicated to the congress, has also been made operational. You can find all information at www.pianc2006.org.
Manuel Marcos Rita (picture)
PIANC Chairman 2006
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- ExCom meeting
- News from MarCom
- News from RecCom
- PIANC in the world
- Paris: Journées techniques
- The Netherlands: a new layout for the Dutch PIANC website
- South Africa: VIP visit
- Brussels: Task Group on Implications of EU Water Framework Directive
- United States: Dr. Bob Engler joins Moffatt & Nichol
- United Kingdom: Technical and social weekend in Le Havre
- PIANC attracts new members
- Argentine Association of Port Engineers to become a Qualifying Member
- Senegal River Commission to become a Corporate Member
- News from the Young Professionals
- PIANC YP's meet in Madrid
- German YP-Group visits CT 4 in Bremerhaven
- Kick-off meeting YP's Italian Section
- Dutch YP's visit "De Delft" and Svasek Hydraulics
- On the calendar
- Institution of Civil Engineering Journal: special issue on waterborne transport. Invitation for international papers
- Inland Terminals: conference and exhibition
- ESPO 2006 Conference
- 3rd European Conference on contaminated sediments
- The 4th World Water Forum
- International conference on winter navigation in the Baltic Sea
- 4th Asian Regional Conference/10th International Seminar on Participatory Irrigation Management
- 2nd International Conference on the Management of Coastal Recreational Resources
- Publications
- PIANC's newsletter "Sailing Ahead" is a big success!
- A completely new PIANC website for may 2006
The following gives an overview of the main topics discussed at the last ExCom meeting of 5 December 2005 in Brussels.
New strategic plan 2006-2010
 Tom Wakeman (picture) and Hartmut Brühl drafted the working document together and therefore chaired this item at the ExCom meeting.
The document was discussed, adapted and ratified by the Council on 6 December.
The general idea behind the new strategic plan for 2006-2010 will be "Thinking Globally and Acting Locally". It focuses on the following themes:
- Expand and enhance our capabilities and our reputation
- Advance sustainable navigation systems worldwide
- Further effective international and internal communications
- Establish strong internal and external relationships
- Expand the number of National Sections and members benefits
In order to meet these goals, PIANC will strive to prepare and disseminate the highest quality of scientific, technical and informative products. By doing so, PIANC will become the leading international source of technical, economic and environmental technology for the sustainable development and management of ports and waterways.
You can find the new strategic plan on the ExCom pages on PIANC's website.
Amendments to Rules and Regulations
The proposed changes were discussed and finally approved by the Council on 6 December. You can also find them on the Council pages on PIANC's website.
Chairpersons for FinCom and EnviCom
For chairman of FinCom, only one candidacy was suggested. The Dutch Section put forward the candidacy of Jolke Brolsma. This proposal was agreed by the meeting and accepted by the Council on 6 December.
As for EnviCom, again only one candidacy was received. The German Section presented the candidacy of Harald Koethe. Taken into account that Koethe joined EnviCom rather recently, the meeting agreed on a transition period.
Provided Bob Engler wants to stay chairman for another two years (AGA 2008), ExCom proposed to nominate Harald Koethe for chairperson elect for the next two years. This proposal was forwarded to the Council meeting and will also be presented to the AGA, which has to confirm the derogation to extend the mandate of Bob Engler. Engler was quite happy with this solution and expected "a team" that will be leading EnviCom from now on. Harald Koethe will be invited to the ExCom meetings.
PIANC's 125th anniversary
 PIANC will celebrate its 125th anniversary in 2010, which calls for a special event. Since PIANC will already hold a congress in 2010 (Mersey MMX), Mr. Van den Eede suggested organizing an additional event in each continent.
The events should be arranged by local organizing committees. 2010 can be considered as a "final point" of a string of events starting in 2008. The Young Professionals, the National Sections and the Commissions will be invited to brainstorm about this matter.
Venue AGA 2009
Spain and Finland have forwarded their candidacy for organizing the AGA in 2009. Since the last AGA in Spain was organized in 1994 and in Finland in 1983, it was decided to propose Finland to the Council as the host country for 2009.
Presentation of the new website
PIANC's webmaster, Jurgen Silence, gave a presentation of the new PIANC website, which is still under construction. For those who already want a preview, visit www.pianc-aipcn.org/test. The new website is foreseen to be operational by May 2006.
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On 15 September 2005, MarCom held its meeting in Le Havre. At the meeting, the active WG's were discussed. WG's 36 and 44 have been published in October 2005. The participants of the meeting also reviewed some previously published WG reports and presented some new topics, namely :
- Safety aspects affecting berthing operations
- Recommendations on the use of hydro/meteo information and prediction, in order to increase access windows and safety of navigation
- Design of seawalls and seadikes
- Site investigations
As for the upcoming congress in Estoril in May 2006, Andrea Ferrante presented the draft programme for the MarCom session, which consists of :
- Port planning policy EC/Brussels: environmental and economic aspects
- Port planning in ports: case studies, e.g. Tianjin/New York/Bremerhaven
- Overview of questionnaires: statements
- Panel discussion on the basis of statements and questions by the audience
Next on the MarCom-agenda in 2006 :
- February meeting in Brussels: 23-24 February 2006
- September meeting in Barcelona: 21-22 September 2006
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Joint meeting RecCom - ICOMIA IMC in Dublin
 On 1 October 2005, a first joint meeting was held between PIANC's RecCom and ICOMIA IMC in Dublin. During the meeting, RecCom chairman Marcello Conti (picture), and ICOMIA IMC chairman Ron Stone, agreed on the importance of keeping each other informed about the activities of both organizations, in order to raise attention and awareness on the recreational navigation world.
After a presentation of the current projects of RecCom and ICOMIA IMC, the commissions reported on their specific interests and experiences. Possible joint work projects were explored, such as :
Co-operation in promoting the PIANC "Jack Nichol Marina Design Award".
Creating a universal methodology for determining the economic importance of the marina industry.
Co-operation in making international dredging organizations and governments aware of the unfair economic burden imposed on marinas in having to dispose of contaminated dredged materials. The source of the contamination often is industry, agriculture, municipalities and other sources outside the marina basin, showing arguably that marinas too can suffer from pollution.
Universal risk management guidelines for marinas in preparing for and recovering from natural disasters, e.g. hurricanes/typhoons, earthquakes, and tsunamis.
The next occasions will be the set-up of joint working groups on common interest matters and the participation of members of each commission in meetings of the other. From 1 until 4 September 2006, a RecCom representative will be present and active in the 36th Conference of the ICOMIA Marinas Committee in Rize, Turkey on the Black Sea. For more information, please visit www.icomia.org.
The joint meeting was followed by PIANC's RecCom meeting on 2 October 2005 in Dublin. Marcello Conti again put a strong emphasis on the well continuing good relationships between PIANC and ICOMIA IMC, as it showed from the first joint meeting. In addition, he mentioned that it would be a good thing to organize next joint meetings and to find real occasions of exchanging ideas and effective co-operation on themes of common interest.
After this, the progress in the current WG's was discussed, as well as the set-up of new WG's, which are the following :
Economical aspects of marina (proposed by Marcello Conti)
Safety of navigation (proposed by Benoit Deleu)
Guidelines for regional nautical tourism network (proposed by Hartmut Dehn)
Guidelines for facilitation and integration among recreational, fishery and commercial navigation (proposed by Elio Ciralli)
Elio Ciralli also proposed to create a special RecCom webpage for members only, just like the ones of other PIANC commissions.
The next RecCom meeting will be held on 24 February 2006 in the PIANC HQ in Brussels.
An Italian Recreational Navigation Section
During the "VIII Giornate Italiane di Ingegneria Costiera" in Civitavecchia, Italy - the main PIANC Italian Section congress - Marcello Conti announced the creation of the "Italian Recreational Navigation Section for PIANC Associates". The aim is to increase participation in PIANC activities of people involved with recreational navigation arguments.
Informations can be obtained from: Ing. Elio Ciralli, at elio.ciralli@cirallistudio.com
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Paris: Journées techniques
A l'initiative de son président, Jean-Marc Medio, et de son premier délégué, Claude Gressier, la section française a organisé des journées techniques à Paris, qui ont eu lieu du 28 au 30 novembre 2005. D'une part, par le biais de ces journées, on visait à souder les membres francophones à l'intérieur de l'AIPCN, ainsi que de susciter de nouvelles adhésions. D'autre part, elles avaient pour but d'inciter les pays africains à fonder des groupes régionaux. Dans l'ensemble, ces journées ont constitué une première initiative axée sur la francophonie et l'Afrique respectivement.
Les trois journées ont été un vrai succès :
Le lundi 28 novembre, une visite était réalisée au port autonome du Havre. Une trentaine de participants y a pu voir le quasi-achèvement du projet PORT 2000, dont on prévoit l'inauguration au début de 2006.
Le mardi 29 novembre a réuni 130 participants, dont trente étrangers, parmi lesquels :
vingt Africains, dont sept Sénégalais, quatre Marocains, trois Camerounais, trois Congolais, un Algérien et un Togolais.
sept Européens, dont quatre Belges (incluant notre président Eric Van den Eede), deux Roumains et un Espagnol.
trois Vietnamiens.
L'organisation des débats a été animée le matin par Claude Gressier et l'après-midi par Geoffroy Caude. A l'ordre du jour figuraient les thèmes suivants :
des projets portuaires: le port de Tanger, le port de Dakar, le port de Pointe Noire (Congo).
des projets fluviaux: la navigation sur le fleuve Congo, sur le bas Mékong, ainsi que sur le fleuve Sénégal.
le mode de financement.
Le mercredi 30 novembre a été consacré à des présentations ou à des visites (du CETMEF, de VNF et du port de Gennevilliers).
Dans l'avenir, on envisage notamment :
Une collaboration avec l'Organisation de Mise en Valeur du fleuve Sénégal (OMVS), qui envisage la création d'une section de l'Afrique de l'Ouest de l'AIPCN.
Une autre collaboration avec la commission technique de l'Assemblée Générale des Ports de l'Afrique de l'Ouest et du Centre (AGPAOC).
Une collaboration avec la Commission Internationale du bassin Congo-Oubangui-Sangha (CICOS), dont les questions de sécurité dans le transport de passagers semblent cruciales.
Geoffroy Caude
Vice-président de l'AIPCN, France
The Netherlands: a new layout for the Dutch PIANC website
Screenshot of the new Dutch PIANC website
The Dutch PIANC website (www.pianc.nl) has changed looks. With a new layout, the website aims to look more up-to-date and more inviting for its visitors. The site has nine main pages, all divided into diverse sub pages, which contain :
In general: a description of PIANC's organization, information about the congress, the names of the Dutch committee members and the addresses of the secretariats in the Netherlands and in Brussels.
Agenda: activities of PIANC and related organizations with different links, in order to obtain more information about these activities.
Young Professionals: they have their own page with their programme.
Membership: current contributions and the possibility to register online.
Magazine: an overview of the magazines of the past ten years.
Newsletter: a possibility to read the most recent newsletter.
Reports: an overview of all WG reports since 1980.
WG's: the current WG's and the names of their Dutch participants.
Contacts: links to the websites of the Dutch members, of the HQ and of other national sections of PIANC.
South Africa: VIP visit
 During the first two weeks of November 2005, South Africa had the privilege of two PIANC VIP's visiting the country, totally unrelated to PIANC business. Hartmut Brühl attended a five-day conference during the first week in November 2005 in Boksburg (Johannesburg). Frans Kapp (picture), ex-chairman of CoCom, met with him at his hotel on Saturday 5 November. They spent a pleasant two hours talking about common interests.
By pure coincidence, Frans also learned about Louis Van Schel's visit to South Africa, as part of a tourist group from Belgium. This resulted in a very pleasant dinner of the Kapps and Van Schels in Camps Bay on the evening of 12 November.
J.F. Kapp (picture)
South Africa
Brussels: Task Group on Implications of EU Water Framework Directive
 On 16 November 2005, a meeting was held at the PIANC offices in Brussels of the Task Group on the Implications of EU Water Framework Directive for Navigation. This Group, chaired by PIANC and attended by representatives of CEDA, ESPO, EFIP, INE, EuDA, EURMIG, EBU and EBA, aims to raise awareness of the WFD and to improve understanding of its possible implications.
At the meeting, it was stated that the EU "daughter directive" on hazardous substances is not yet an inter-service consultation. Concern was expressed that this directive, being agreed before the end of 2006, is now remote. Nonetheless, the Task Group remains convinced that a good - scientifically sound - daughter directive is preferable to member states deriving their own Environmental Quality Standards (EQS), if a level playing field is to be obtained.
Roel Hoenders (ESPO) circulated a Strategic Co-ordination Group paper, identifying the WFD Pilot River Basins. The role for the Task Group as a facilitator to ensure adequate representation of navigation interests in these Pilot River Basins was discussed. It has to be a good opportunity to start a dialogue with all responsible organizations. All Task Group-members were asked to identify Pilot River Basins with known navigation interests to strive to obtain contact details. The Task Group will then send a letter to responsible navigation administrations, in order to advise them about the Water Framework Directive and the Pilot River Basin activities.
Grahame Newman (CEDA) expressed the concerns of British Waterways about the possibility of limits on boat traffic, in order to meet ecological targets. CCNR was asked to investigate whether these issues also affect the Rhine traffic. Karin De Schepper (INE) also requested urgent assistance from the Task Group associations in identifying and providing summary statements about win-win case studies regarding inland navigation infrastructure development and environmental benefits.
The Group will meet again in February 2006, with EC representatives (DG Tren and DG Fisheries and Maritime Affairs) being invited to attend.
Jan Brooke
Chairperson of the Task Group
United States: Dr. Bob Engler joins Moffatt & Nichol
 Moffatt & Nichol is proud to announce that Dr. Robert (Bob) Engler (picture) has joined the firm as Senior Environmental Scientist. Engler is a geochemist and has 35 years of experience with the US Army Corps of Engineer's Engineer Research Development Center (ERDC). He is the author and coauthor of numerous publications on the geochemistry of dredged material, dredged material management, flooded soils, wetlands, sediments and many subjects more.
Bob Engler has served as a US State Department representative to the London Convention 1972 since 1977, and was elected chairman of the organization's Consultative and Scientific Group for four terms (1988-1991). Not only is he known as an active member of PIANC, but also of the Western Dredging Association, the Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) and the Sediment Management Working Group (SMWG). As a member of PIANC, Bob Engler served as chairman of the PIANC Environmental Commission and as an executive committee member.
Engler's primary responsibility at Moffatt & Nichol will be to provide his broad expertise and experience to expand the firm's capabilities in the environmental aspects of contaminated sediments, Superfund support, European Union environmental assessment and regulatory compliance issues, etc… He will apply his expertise among a broad variety of existing and future governmental and private sector clients. Of course, PIANC hopes to keep relying on his knowledge as well. He can be contacted at: rengler@moffattnichol.com
PIANC wants to take the opportunity to congratulate him and to wish him the best of luck with this new task.
United Kingdom: Technical and social weekend in Le Havre
PIANC's UK-Section held its annual technical and social weekend in Le Havre, France in September 2005. The group were invited by the chairman of the Port Autonome du Havre to inspect the new Port 2000 developments and to receive a briefing from Paul Scherrer, the Chief Engineer of the Port.
Paul Scherrer and his team assisted in ensuring a very full programme of activities for the weekend, including the site visit to the port, technical briefing, visit to the Pont de Normandie, and a further technical briefing by the Chief Engineer of the Municipality at the bridge visitor's centre on Saturday. This was followed by a trip to Honfleur, Mulberry Harbour at Arromanches and the American Cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach and the English Channel in Colleville-sur Mer on Sunday.
The British Section are grateful to Paul Scherrer and his colleagues at the Port Autonome du Havre for hosting the PIANC UK-delegation.
PIANC UK-section in Le Havre
Kirsty McConnell, UK-Section
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| PIANC attracts new members |
Argentine Association of Port Engineers to become a Qualifying Member
The Argentine Association of Port Engineers aims to become a Qualifying Member of PIANC. During its meeting of 6 December 2005, the Council decided that countries become a Candidate Qualifying Member for 24 months. In this period, CoCom will assist them in becoming a full member.
Senegal River Commission to become a Corporate Member
The Senegal River Commission - OMVS (L'Organisation pour la Mise en Valeur du fleuve Sénégal) - wants to become a Corporate Member of PIANC.
OMVS is an organization that strives for a rational control and exploitation of the Senegal River resources and its valley. Three countries - Mali, Mauretania and Senegal - take part in this organization. They signed an agreement in order to meet its goals. The Senegal River Commission has the following objectives :
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| News from the Young Professionals |
PIANC YP's meet in Madrid
The Young Professionals Implementation Group had a very successful meeting in Madrid on 11 November 2005, hosted by David Romero at Puertos del Estado. The final conclusion of the meeting was that the YP's are very active in PIANC and that they became an important group of PIANC since the Young Professionals Implementation group was set up in 2003.
PIANC YP's meet in Madrid, hosted by David Romero (left on picture)
National Young Professional groups are actively working in Spain, Belgium, Italy, Germany, Austria, US, UK, South Africa and The Netherlands. They organize technical visits, technical conferences, annual meetings and national paper awards. Hence, the vitality of these national sections significantly increased and many new (young) members are attracted to PIANC. Other countries (such as France, Portugal, China, etc.) are encouraged to follow these countries to set up national YP-groups and to send national representatives to the meetings of the International Young Professionals Implementation Group.
Young Professionals are also actively working in many PIANC working groups of MarCom, EnviCom, RecCom and InCom. The number of YP's in working groups has significantly increased during the last years. National sections are encouraged to send experienced YP's to PIANC working groups, in order to prepare modern and high quality scientific, technical and informative PIANC products. In addition, the Young Professionals Implementation Group is consulted by ExCom and other commissions for different topics related to the future role and activities of PIANC.
The Young Professional Implementation group will be present at the PIANC congress in Estoril, organizing a number of events, such as the YP-paper competition award, a YP social event and a YP-session. A YP-flyer was prepared, describing the objectives and the strategy of the YP-group. PIANC members are invited to visit these events and to discuss future activities of the Young Professionals Implementation Group.
In Madrid, the YP's also expressed their need for a permanent "YP-Com", in order to meet future needs and to review PIANC activities by YP's on a permanent basis. The activities of the YP-groups are very much in accordance with the internal and external goals of the new PIANC strategic plan for 2006-2010. Therefore, they should keep up the good work. This is not possible on a temporary basis, hence the need for a permanent YP-commission.
The next YP-meeting will be held either in Rome/Palermo or in Vienna. The date of the next meeting was not decided yet. More detailed information will follow.
Holger Schüttrumpf, German YP-Section
German YP-Group visits CT 4 in Bremerhaven
 The second meeting of the YP-Group was held in Bremerhaven on 13 October 2005. This time, a technical visit was arranged at the construction site of Container-Terminal 4 (CT 4), attended by 11 YP's and the PIANC vice-president Dr. Eng. Hartmut Brühl (picture).
The objectives of the meeting were to discuss actual PIANC news, future national and international activities, as well as the participation of YP's in new PIANC working groups. At the meeting, six proposals for new working groups were presented. Among other activities, a new international working group of YP's was discussed, to develop a concept for a new information exchange system.
After an interesting discussion and a pleasant lunch, the local project engineer, Christian Hein, gave an illustrative presentation of the construction works of CT 4. The presentation was followed by a visit of the CT 4 and the construction works.
The Container-Terminal 4 project is one of the largest port construction works currently in progress in Europe. It is a €500 million project. The existing riverside quay of 3.237m is being extended by a further 1.681m to create four new berthes for mega-container vessels. The construction of the new quay is based on the principle of an anchored steel wall with an integrated wave absorbing chamber. The hinterland of CT 4 covers an area of around 90 ha. The whole area will be reclaimed with a total of roughly 10 million m3 sand. For further information, please visit the project website www.ct-bremerhaven.de. In PIANC's magazine "On Course" 122, distributed around 15 January, you can also read more about the CT 4 in Bremerhaven.
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Line-up for the picture at the Container-Terminal 4 project
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The new YP-Group decided to meet twice a year in connection with interesting technical visits. All interested YP's are invited to attend our future meetings. The next meeting will be held in Bremen on 16 March 2006, visiting the new traffic control center of the Waterways and Shipping Administration. If you want to join us, please sign up by sending an e-mail to :
Angela Prack, Bremenports
Kick-off meeting YP's Italian Section
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PIANC's Italian Section is pleased to announce that the kick-off meeting of PIANC-YP's of the Italian Section has been set up. The meeting was held during the "VIII Ed. - Giornate Italiane di Ingegneria Costiera", that took place from 23 until 25 November 2005.
So far, the following action points are ready for activation :
- Attention was drawn to the double name (of which one "YP") for the new working groups of the Commissions.
- The "Italian Section of PIANC's Young Professionals" has been founded. The following tasks are to be fulfilled :
- participation in the Association's activities
- participation in the YP-Award
- participation in the international exchange programme
- set-up of a website dedicated to the YP-section
- involve the Italian YP's in universities, in organizations and units, etc.
- organization of events and seminars.
Elio Ciralli, Secretary of RecCom
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Dutch YP's visit "De Delft" and Svasek Hydraulics
On 17 November 2005, the Dutch YP's paid a visit to the shipyard De Delft and Svasek Hydraulics. First stop was De Delft, where they got a guided tour. The tour started with a video about the history and the decline of De Delft. Afterwards, they could have a good view on the different workplaces.
During the guided tour, the YP's got more information on the used wood and methodologies. These eighteenth-century methodologies were totally different from the current ones. Hence, they required a whole range of different trades. The same goes for the wood that was used back then. Even the interior, the figures and the pulleys were self-made. The YP's also got a view on the model that was used for the construction of De Delft. A better insight in the construction of this vessel can be viewed at www.dedelft.nl.
This interesting tour being finished, the YP's carried on their excursion to Svasek Hydraulics. After a short introductory comment on the company, two employees gave a presentation about their activities, amongst other things in the framework of the new port of Hazira (India). The presentation also referred to the use of different models, such as the FINEL model, developed by Svasek. After the presentations, Svasek invited all participants for a drink at restaurant De Delft, where they were also offered a little present, a compass, as a small reminder of the trip. The drink was then followed by the captain's dinner that concluded the excursion.
Natascha Dofferhoff, Dutch YP-Section
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Institution of Civil Engineering Journal: special issue on waterborne transport. Invitation for international papers
 "Civil Engineering" is the flagship refereed journal of the UK Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), with an international circulation of more than 50.000 each quarter. Each year, it also publishes two special issues on dedicated topics, which have a subscription circulation of about 34.000.
The special issue in May 2005 was on "Integrated Transport: Challenges and Solutions", focusing on land transport. This has provoked comments that waterborne transport could or should also have been included. As a result, the Editorial Panel of the Journal are willing to offer a dedicated "Special Issue on Waterborne Transport", the technology and the operational and strategic issues related to it, on the basis that PIANC would be able to offer a list of suitable papers and authors.
A typical special issue contains about twelve papers, each of about 3.000 words plus illustrations and a one-page introduction from the papers coordinator. The papers all have to pass through a peer review process, and should be at a technical level that is accessible to the non-specialist civil engineer.
The target date of publication of this Special Issue would be May 2007, but in order to meet this, paper texts need to be delivered for review by September 2006, so the time-scale is not as long as it might appear.
The British National Committee of PIANC wishes to take advantage of this exceptional offer, and to extend the invitation for contributions to the international PIANC community so that it includes an international perspective and experience. Offers of papers should be made as soon as possible, with a title and short abstract of proposed content. Please send to the UK Government Chief Delegate, Mike Thorn at mfcthorn@supanet.com.
Mike Thorn (picture)
UK Government Chief Delegate
Inland Terminals: conference and exhibition
 The conference and exhibition, "Inland Terminals, untapped opportunities", will be held in Duisburg on 27-28 September 2006. The main goals of this event are to create awareness among shippers, forwarders and transportation companies of the untapped opportunities inland terminals have to offer. On the other hand, the conference is set up to show how one can benefit from making use of inland terminals.
The exhibition allows companies to present their products and services on an individual basis. It also allows the exhibitors to network with conference delegates. The conference will deal with a variety of topics, such as the technical aspects of rivers and canals in Europe, economic profitability, etc. All topics will be looked at from a theoretical angle, as well as from the practical side. There will also be speakers that will shed light on the drawbacks and shortcomings of inland terminals. As the conference attracts delegates from all over Europe, the official language of the conference will be English.
If you wish to find more information and further details about this event, please visit the following website: www.inlandterminals.com
ESPO 2006 Conference
 The ESPO 2006 Conference will be held in Stockholm on 1 and 2 June 2006 . The event commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Swedish ports association "Sveriges Hamnar" (Ports of Sweden) and will be held at the Hasselbacken Hotel, close to the world-famous Wasa Museum, where the conference dinner will be held. The event is organized by ESPO in partnership with Ports of Sweden and the Port of Stockholm.
The theme of the conference will be "Port development: possibilities and problems. The changing role of the port manager". With port traffic rising at a continuous pace, the need for further development of ports, maritime access and hinterland connections remains an absolute priority to maintain Europe's competitive position in world trade. The ESPO 2006 Conference aims to look at this issue both from the EU policy side and from a market-oriented perspective, addressing key questions such as stakeholder management, cross-border cooperation between ports as well as public-private financing of port-related projects.
The underlying question of the conference is the steering role port authorities can play in these processes and the current changes in port management structures taking place in several European ports. The full programme will soon be available on www.espo.be
Patrick Verhoeven (picture)
Secretary General ESPO
3rd European Conference on contaminated sediments
 The 3rd European Conference on contaminated sediments - "European sediments and sentiments" - will take place on 20 and 21 March 2006 in Budapest. This event intends to create a greater understanding for the increasing problems caused by contaminated sediments in the European waters. Keynote speaker of the conference will be István Öri (picture), Hungarian Minister of Environment and Water and currently President of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube and Tisza Rivers.
Contaminated sediments are a European wide problem. The production of sediments in Europe is estimated at 1.800 million tonnes per year. Five to ten per cent of the sediments that disappear in the seas and in the Atlantic Ocean, are heavily contaminated. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that they are removed and recycled, so that they don't form a threat to the environment or public health.
A list of submitted papers and papers on request will be published on the following website: www.reused.nl. On this website, you can also find further details on the conference itself.
The 4th World Water Forum
 The 4th World Water Forum will be held in Mexico City from 16 until 22 March 2006. It is organized by the National Water Commission of Mexico and the World Water Council.
The theme of this forum will be "Local Actions for a Global Challenge" and was selected with the objective of encouraging debate and inciting new initiatives to deal with the great challenges faced by local actors.
All information can be found on the 4th World Water Forum website at www.worldwaterforum4.org.
International conference on winter navigation in the Baltic Sea
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On 9 and 10 February 2006, The Finnish city of Kemi will host the "Ice Day", an International conference on winter navigation in the Baltic Sea. Ships sail in the North all year around, despite all the ice, snow and cold weather. Through the thick shield of ice in wintertime, ships have to find a safe way to the port. The harsh wind and the movement of the ice masses bring their own elements to winter navigation. These special circumstances call for specialized professionals and unique technology. The conference in Kemi in February will focus on this subject matter.
The conference fee is € 620, including presentation materials, lunches, coffees and evening programme. All participants should register by filling out and sending the registration form to Project Secretary Ilse Leppäranta :
For further information on the conference, please contact :
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4th Asian Regional Conference/10th International Seminar on Participatory Irrigation Management
 The 4th Asian Regional Conference (ARC) and the 10th International Seminar on Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) will be held in Tehran, Iran from 2 until 5 May 2007.
The event will be hosted by the Iranian National Committee on Irrigation and Drainage (IRNCID). It provides an opportunity to present new developments in PIM and to share successful experiment with others. The following PIM-topics will be discussed :
- A review on participatory measures in irrigation
- Required grounds and facilities for PIM formation
- Support system for PIM sustainability
Professionals, researchers and experts are invited to submit papers on any of these topics. It should be informative abstracts providing "current awareness" information in a condensed and convenient form. The abstracts should contain about 250 words, written in English, both in hard copy and electronic form, indicating :
- Relevance to the conference theme
- Suggested title (not more than 70 characters)
- The authors' title and affiliation as footnote and the main author's contact address, including telephone, fax and e-mail.
If you wish to find more details about this event (e.g. deadlines, general information, etc.), please visit www.pim2007.org , or send an e-mail to :
2nd International Conference on the Management of Coastal Recreational Resources
 This is the first announcement and call for papers for MCRR2, the second conference in Insular Coastal Dynamics' (IcoD) biannual series on the Management of Coastal Recreational Resources. As with the first conference held in Malta in 2004, this year's event will focus on aspects of coastal management, related to the recreational amenities represented by beaches, yacht marinas and ecotourism.
This year's conference will be held at the five star Hotel Ta' Cenc on Malta's sister island of Gozo, from 25 until 27 October 2006. It aims to bring together academic researchers, as well as practitioners whose work involves aspects of both research into integrated coastal area management practices and the development and management of coast-related recreational amenities.
Look out for the MCRR2 dedicated webpage on mcrr2.icod.org.mt, available by the end of January. If you wish to find more information, you can also send an e-mail to the local secretariat at:
Anton Micallef
Director of Euro-Mediterranean Centre on Insular Coastal Dynamics
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Just shipped
At around 15 January, these publications have been distributed to PIANC members :
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| Magazine "On Course" 122 |
EnviCom 8 (English): "Biological Assessment Guidance for Dredged Material" |
InCom 26 (English): "Design of Movable Weirs and Storm Surge Barriers" |
For eventual address changes and updates, please contact your National Section or the PIANC General Secretariat at info@pianc-aipcn.org.
Publications pipeline
The following publications and WG-reports will be released around 15 April :
- Magazine "On Course" 123: this will be a special issue, dedicated to the host country of PIANC's 31st congress and the AGA in Estoril.
- InCom 25: "Maintenance and renovation of Navigation Infrastructure".
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| PIANC's newsletter "sailing ahead" is a big success! |
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With the newsletter of November 2005, lots of improvements have been made to this powerful communication tool. Not only, the newsletter was sent to no less than 2.500 e-mail members and non-members. The concept has changed completely :
The layout has been updated. All articles fit on one page and are connected to a central menu on top through a jump up-down option. This, and some additional adaptations improved the printability of the newsletter as well. From now on, a nice print-out can be made if you prefer reading "Sailing Ahead" in the train, bus or... from your comfortable chair at home while enjoying a nice glass of wine?
Also new is the fact that the newsletter is integrally incorporated in the e-mail message, making the availability of a browser optional. The newsletter file size does not exceed 600 kB, enhancing the download speed drastically, a sigh of relief for telephone line surfers.
Technically, new software and databases have been developed by PIANC's webmaster Jurgen Silence. Visitors can subscribe on-line through the website and mailing list databases are self-maintaining and autonomous. This new formula seems successful already: immediately after distribution of the last "Sailing Ahead", about twenty new subscription requests rolled in. A feedback mechanism prevents abuse of the mailing list and unsolicited subscription or un-subscription. Non-existing e-mail addresses are automatically filtered from the mailing database. A useful feature crossing out about fifteen percent of all e-mail addresses from our database and allowing PIANC HQ to keep membership data up-to-date. The software also allows monitoring of database changes.
By receiving many enthusiastic e-mails, we are happy to learn that our readers warmly welcome the new concept. Thank you all. We will try to do even better with each "Sailing Ahead" edition and we hope that we can keep counting on your input.
Jurgen Silence
Webmaster PIANC
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| A completely new PIANC website for May 2006 |
Beta version of the new PIANC website
With a daily average of more than 350 unique visitors from all over the world, PIANC's website is by far the most important communication tool of PIANC. Statistics show that visitors consult on average more than five pages per session indicating high interest. Based on the information of yahoo.com search engine, about 560 external links connect to our website. Also, as a substantial part of the website, PIANC's newsletter "Sailing Ahead" reaches 2.500 people with each issue, making it a unique and important medium for promotion. Furthermore, the PIANC website is used internally as a communication tool for sharing documents among Commissions and working groups and as a forum for National Sections. Not the least important, the website is a source of income for PIANC : on-line ordering of publications is a success, as well as on-line application for membership. Requests for publicity can be easily managed on-line and, indirectly, the website mediates in subscription for congresses, seminars and other PIANC activities.
Since the website went on-line in late 1998, more than 2.700 pages were published, including more than 4.800 graphic elements. The website was built in static HTML coding with additional client side scripting.
Recently, ExCom requested a profound refreshment/upgrade of the website. An extensive project and exciting challenge for PIANC's webmaster Jurgen Silence. On 5 December, a beta version of the website was demonstrated by Jurgen to ExCom. These are some of the highlights :
More attention will go to the PIANC members who will be offered password protected access to some extras, such as a user-friendly searchable membership directory, internal documents, agenda, archive material, ...
Data will be restructured with emphasis on content and quality. Information will be presented in a more interactive way with short and concise texts.
A new, modern look and feel will be designed.
Recent website developing technology will be used, customized to the needs of PIANC: server side scripting, MySQL databases and Perl scripting.
Extra functions will be developed. An on-line membership directory, extended search options and shopping cart system, new newsletter applications, a breadcrumb function and a customized administration module.
We will work towards a separation of content and layout using user-friendly interfaces to import crucial data in databases (e.g. PIANC publications, on-line membership directory, password protection, shopping cart system, graphics and news items).
At the moment, the development is in full progress and PIANC HQ hopes to bring the new website on-line on 1 May.
Jurgen Silence
Webmaster PIANC
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Reader, do you like what you get? Send your comments to : webmaster@pianc-aipcn.org
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