Resilient Coastal Protection and Offshore Structures Under Extreme Marine Environments: Hydrodynamics, Stability and Durability

Coastal and offshore infrastructure plays a critical role in protecting coastal communities, ports, energy systems and marine economic activities, while also contributing to the resilience, ecological functioning and sustainable development of coastal systems as a whole. Under climate change, sea-level rise, intensified storms and increasing coastal development, conventional design approaches face growing limitations. Structures designed primarily for wave attenuation or static stability may experience reduced performance when exposed to long-period waves, compound flooding, local scour, cyclic loading and aggressive marine exposure. In particular, reinforced concrete and concrete-based marine structures in splash, tidal and submerged zones are vulnerable to chloride ingress, sulfate attack, wetting–drying cycles, freeze–thaw action and reinforcement corrosion. Future research therefore needs to move beyond single-factor design and develop multi-scale, multi-physics and life-cycle approaches for resilient coastal and offshore systems.

This Research Topic addresses a key scientific and engineering challenge: how coastal protection and offshore structures can maintain hydrodynamic performance, structural stability and long-term durability under extreme and coupled marine environmental actions, while supporting broader coastal system resilience, ecosystem functioning and sustainable coastal development. Breakwaters, seawalls, revetments, harbour structures, offshore platforms, offshore wind foundations and submarine pipeline protection systems are increasingly exposed to extreme waves, storm surges, wave overtopping, scour, seabed instability, fatigue damage and material deterioration. Existing studies often examine hydrodynamic loading, structural response, seabed evolution and material durability separately, whereas real engineering failures frequently arise from their combined effects. This Research Topic aims to promote integrated, science-based and implementable solutions for resilient and sustainable ocean and coastal infrastructure.

We welcome Original Research, Review, Mini Review, Perspective, Methods, Technology and Code, Brief Research Report and Data Report articles. Contributions may address, but are not limited to:

1. Wave–structure interaction and hydrodynamic loading on breakwaters, seawalls, revetments, caissons, harbour structures, offshore platforms and offshore wind foundations.

2. Reliability, performance and design of innovative and resilient coastal protection systems, including nature-based, hybrid, perforated, porous, floating, submerged, multi-chamber and nature-inclusive structures, and their contribution to coastal ecosystem functioning and sustainable coastal development.

3. Structural stability, reliability, failure mechanisms, fatigue, sliding, overturning and risk assessment under extreme marine conditions.

4. Seabed–structure interaction, local scour, sediment transport, seabed liquefaction, shoreline response and scour protection.

5. Durability, service-life prediction and lifecycle sustainability of marine concrete, reinforced concrete, UHPC, low-carbon cementitious materials, fiber-reinforced concrete, recycled aggregate concrete and polymer-modified concrete, with explicit linkage to lifecycle environmental performance and sustainable design outcomes.

6. Laboratory experiments, field monitoring, CFD, FEM, SPH, multi-physics modelling, digital twins, machine learning, uncertainty analysis and life-cycle assessment.

7. Engineering implementation, performance-based design, maintenance, rehabilitation, low-carbon strategies and sustainable coastal resilience solutions.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Policy and Practice Reviews
• Policy Brief
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: Coastal protection, Offshore structures;, Sustainable marine infrastructure, Chloride ingress, Marine concrete durability, Structural stability, Seabed–structure interaction, Scour, Breakwaters, Storm surge, Extreme waves, Wave–structure interaction

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.