This laboratory analyzes the interaction between coasts and oceans to define viable projects for the industrial and tourism sectors.
Rocío Castañeda
The coastal states of Mexico, bordered by the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico, present significant challenges and opportunities for maritime civil engineering, a crucial area for developing appropriate and safe infrastructure in these regions. Therefore, the existence and operation of the Ports and Coasts Laboratory of the Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN), located at the Escuela Superior de Ingeniería y Arquitectura (ESIA), Zacatenco Unit, are of great importance.
In this laboratory, directed by Dr. Oscar Cruz Castro, the interaction between coasts and oceans is analyzed, allowing for the definition of viable projects, primarily for the industrial and tourism sectors, through physical and numerical modeling.
"For this, various physical tests are conducted using a reduced model. We verify the geometric design, the level of agitation of ocean waters, and from this, we determine the correct inferences for the project to translate it into a safe design with a high degree of certainty in reality," explained the specialist, who is a professor in the Graduate Studies and Research Section at ESIA Zacatenco.
An example of the importance of this polytechnic space is a breakwater project designed by the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), which, through the Civil Engineering Studies Management, requested ESIA to present a technical and economic proposal to develop the "Experimental Study in a Three-Dimensional Physical Model of the Agitation Inside the Salina Cruz Maritime Terminal, Oaxaca."
The laboratory, which covers almost 1,500 square meters, was created in the 1960s with the vision that it was a fundamental piece for testing maritime structures. The only way to know if they worked or failed was to build them without scientific bases and wait for results, although this meant economic losses.
This space houses a three-dimensional wave tank, with a rock beach at the opposite end of the generator for wave absorption; a prismatic tank with an irregular wave generator for ship drag and current generation; a data acquisition system with 8 channels for data sampling; and an 8-channel wave sensor signal amplifier. Additionally, it includes a piston-type hydraulic wave generator with a hydraulic unit and a wave channel used for studying the stability of breakwaters and coastal protections in two dimensions.
For decades, this laboratory has participated in the design of docks, ports, and breakwaters, as well as in environmental impact studies on Mexican coasts. It also defines the effects upstream and downstream on adjacent beaches and, in the case of existing tourist developments, provides solutions to prevent them.
In collaboration with the Mexican Institute of Transportation (IMT) and a small Fluid Mechanics Laboratory at the Autonomous University of Sinaloa (UAS), the Ports and Coasts Laboratories, as well as the Hydraulic Engineering Laboratory at ESIA Zacatenco, have been reaccredited as the National Laboratory of Fluvial and Maritime Engineering (LANIFLUMAR) by the National Council of Humanities, Sciences, and Technologies (Conahcyt).
With this support and the urgent need to upgrade the equipment of the Ports and Coasts Laboratory, Dr. Oscar Cruz is focused on securing resources to acquire a wave generator and an overhead crane, among other necessities, for this facility, the largest of its kind among all higher education institutions in the country.
We need armies of engineers for various projects, and if they specialize in maritime engineering, the impact will be greater for designing better structures.
“We are seeking resources through Conahcyt and the Polytechnic, demonstrating that projects like the one in Salina Cruz have real applications in construction and the country's economy,” he emphasized.
If it had state-of-the-art equipment, the Ports and Coasts Laboratory would be able to carry out projects that can cost up to 300,000 dollars abroad. "The investment would be high because sophisticated equipment is required, although it would be repaid by future projects," encouraged the specialist with extensive experience in ocean and coastal engineering.
"The social impact of this laboratory is unquantifiable. We are talking about education, projects for polytechnic students, as well as the experience that will allow them to excel in the labor field because it is difficult for someone to take that kind of knowledge to transfer it to improve projects and society," he said.
In this sense, Oscar Cruz Castro is part of the IPN's Institutional Safety and Resilience Committee and, as coordinator of the hydrometeorology area, he recently went - with other specialists - to Acapulco to review coastal structures and docks after the passage of Hurricane Otis, to study the best way to avoid this type of damage in the future.
"Our collaboration is in terms of resilience, how to improve the structures so that under similar conditions the same thing does not happen and to transmit this knowledge to the students because it is important to develop this type of synergy between our students, professors, and society," he commented.
*The head of the Ports and Coasts Laboratory is a graduate of CECyT 11 "Wilfrido Massieu" and the ESIA Zacatenco, and received his master's and doctorate degrees from Texas A&M University, USA, specializing in the area of Ocean Engineering.
This laboratory supports undergraduate and graduate students with practices, that strengthen the theory acquired in the classroom, while it is also available to work externally and address problems in the area of continental or maritime hydraulics, and all those related to the subject of water.
Master of Science José Abraham Caffani Gutiérrez, in charge of these facilities, which date back to 1965, explained that the laboratory is composed of two areas: experimental and didactic. The first has a control console, constant load tank, pumping sump, volumetric gauging tank, Rehbock channel, variable slope channel, wave tank, wave and sand channel, as well as an area for hydraulic models. The second includes a variable slope channel, Reynolds table, oscillation tower, wind tunnel, piping network and hydrostatic bench, among others.
The head of the Ports and Coasts Laboratory is a graduate of CECyT 11 "Wilfrido Massieu" and the ESIA Zacatenco, and completed his master's degree and doctorate at Texas A&M University, USA, specializing in the area of Ocean Engineering.
The experience accumulated by the members of the Hydraulic Engineering Laboratory and their contributions to various projects of experimental optimization of hydraulic works as well as treatment and analysis of special problems generate knowledge that strengthens the training of students who contribute to the development of the country.
Selección Gaceta Politécnica #173. (April 30th, 2024). IPN Imagen Institucional: Read the full magazine in Spanish here.
INSTITUTO POLITÉCNICO NACIONAL
D.R. Instituto Politécnico Nacional (IPN). Av. Luis Enrique Erro S/N, Unidad Profesional Adolfo López Mateos, Zacatenco, Alcaldía Gustavo A. Madero, C.P. 07738, Ciudad de México. Conmutador: 55 57 29 60 00 / 55 57 29 63 00.
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