The Coastal & Ocean Basin (COB) is operational since March 2023 and establishes itself as a strong emerging player in the field of physical model testing. The COB is already a member of the new ESFRI Distributed Research Infrastructure MARINERG-I, to tackle the EU Green Deal ambitions for 2030. It is also member of the OWI-lab infrastructure
network, to support the Belgian offshore wind sector. Strategic infrastructure extensions not included in the original design of the COB will enable tackling additional challenges related to the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE), offshore and coastal engineering, aquaculture and nature-based solutions (NbS). For that reason, we propose to extend the COB with a sediment bed installation solution, including water storage tanks with filter system and a piping system to fill and empty these tanks. Excellent scientific achievements and rapid industrial developments in the above sectors require new technical capabilities for the modelling of hydrodynamic conditions in combination with sediment and soil modelling. This extension will empower the COB’s position and will add significant value to facility end-users from academia, government and industry, enabling them to carry out novel and innovative research in the interaction of sediments, waves and currents with embedded structures such as monopiles, jack-ups or mooring line anchor foundations, as well as aquaculture and NbS solutions