During extreme storms, mangroves offer a natural fortification against flooding and coastal erosion by reducing wave energy and trapping sediment. Hoping to better understand and maximize these benefits, researchers from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center and the U.S. Naval Academy are collaborating to learn more about how to most effectively use mangroves to reduce coastal damage caused by waves. This will enable USACE Districts and the nation to make educated decisions and optimize designs that will better protect our coastal communities. This innovative project is part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineering with Nature initiative, which supports more sustainable water resources outcomes by intentionally aligning natural and engineering processes.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineering With Nature® (EWN) initiative is celebrating 10 years of enabling more sustainable delivery of economic, social and environmental benefits through infrastructure. The overarching vision for the initiative is to foster an approach where nature and human engineering are partners in infrastructure development. The strong relationships and collaborations built with partners around the world have fueled EWN’s progress over the past decade. Some of EWN’s partners share their greetings and congratulations on the 10th anniversary of EWN. For more information, go to engineeringwithnature.org.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Engineering With Nature® (EWN) initiative is celebrating 10 years of enabling more sustainable delivery of economic, social and environmental benefits through infrastructure. The overarching vision for the initiative is to foster an approach where nature and human engineering are partners in infrastructure development. The strong relationships and collaborations built with partners around the world have fueled EWN’s progress over the past decade. Some of EWN’s partners share their greetings and congratulations on the 10th anniversary of EWN. For more information, go to engineeringwithnature.org.

ERDC Virtual Tour - Hangar 2.

ERDC Researchers have discovered that the wetlands in the Yazoo River Basin are supported largely by precipitation, rather than flooding as originally thought.

Since its creation following the Great Flood of 1927, the Engineer Research and Development Center and its forerunner have constructed thousands of physical models to support projects across our nation in streams, rivers, inlets, estuaries and coasts. ERDC has the deep expertise and unique facilities to do robust physical modeling of coastal and hydraulic structures, including two three-dimensional wave generators and three two-dimensional wave flumes. It also combines its vast physical modeling capabilities with high-tech numerical modeling to improve navigation, optimize the design of structures, understand the response and resiliency of natural features, and solve some of the toughest civil works and military operational challenges facing our nation today. ERDC’s models are value-added, saving projects millions of dollars by improving designs and saving them from failure.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and its Engineer Research and Development Center are currently conducting R&D to operationalize technology that separates sand from mud while it’s being transported in the discharge pipeline of an operating hydraulic dredge. The simple placement method from the past is being evaluated not only to establish separation performance metrics, but it is also being further developed to enhance sediment distribution capabilities to optimize targeted placement while dredging. The enhanced placement method will eliminate, or significantly reduce, the subsequent re-handling of the sediment and often exorbitant associated costs of that process. These improvements will be based on the two key Engineering With Nature® elements: using science and engineering to produce operational efficiencies, and using natural process to achieve maximum benefit. For more information, go to www.engineeringwithnature.org

Researchers at ERDC’s Field Research Facility in Duck, North Carolina, have kept watch on the coast for more than 40 years, creating a vibrant research hub that remains at the forefront of coastal science and engineering today. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, the internationally renowned coastal observatory serves as a natural lab and test bed for field instrumentation and numerical models. Its ever-expanding and evolving array of sensors continuously measures waves, currents and morphology, providing foundational datasets that have been used in more than 1,000 scientific publications to date. The FRF supports ERDC’s civil and military missions by advancing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ knowledge of the coastal environment through field observation, data analysis, numerical exploration, and technology development. If it is coastal research, the FRF is one of the first places people are going for the data, tools and expertise needed to solve their complex challenges.

The Coastal Engineering Research Board has set the standards for the coastal engineering community throughout the past century. With its membership including U.S. Army Corps of Engineers leaders and prominent civilians internationally recognized in the coastal engineering field, the seven-member board advises the Corps’ commander on coastal engineering and science. Throughout its history, CERB has been instrumental in shaping new innovations and approaches, including the establishment of a Field Research Facility along the North Carolina coast, development of airborne LIDAR bathymetry, and the promotion of a new approach to manage systems through risk reduction. Today, CERB continues to be an internationally renowned voice whose recommendations will leave resounding impacts for generations to come.

Icing threatens the safety and success of military and civilian operations around the globe, as the rapid accumulation of ice can hinder mobility, damage infrastructure and impede communications. Existing treatments are either both costly and labor intensive or limited in their scope because little is known about the underlying scientific principles that make passive coatings effective. That’s why a team of ERDC researchers is conducting innovative basic research to unravel the physical processes that govern ice adhesion. Their research will create a fundamental understanding of the microscale mechanisms that control how ice attaches to various surfaces, paving the way for future development of new protective and advanced materials and the expansion of existing treatments to broader applications and other fields. This project is another example of how ERDC’s basic research is solving the impossible problems of our future battlespace.

The Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory partnered with multiple government agencies and Worcester Polytechnic Institute to test oil spill response research. The laboratory, along with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), is implementing new methods to burn crude oil more efficiently.

Icing threatens the safety and success of military and civilian operations around the globe, as the rapid accumulation of ice can hinder mobility, damage infrastructure and impede communications. Existing treatments are either both costly and labor intensive or limited in their scope because little is known about the underlying scientific principles that make passive coatings effective. That’s why a team of ERDC researchers is conducting innovative basic research to unravel the physical processes that govern ice adhesion. Their research will create a fundamental understanding of the microscale mechanisms that control how ice attaches to various surfaces, paving the way for future development of new protective and advanced materials and the expansion of existing treatments to broader applications and other fields. This project is another example of how ERDC’s basic research is solving the impossible problems of our future battlespace.

Researchers at ERDC’s Field Research Facility in Duck, North Carolina, have kept watch on the coast for more than 40 years, creating a vibrant research hub that remains at the forefront of coastal science and engineering today. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, the internationally renowned coastal observatory serves as a natural lab and test bed for field instrumentation and numerical models. Its ever-expanding and evolving array of sensors continuously measures waves, currents and morphology, providing foundational datasets that have been used in more than 1,000 scientific publications to date. The FRF supports ERDC’s civil and military missions by advancing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ knowledge of the coastal environment through field observation, data analysis, numerical exploration, and technology development. If it is coastal research, the FRF is one of the first places people are going for the data, tools and expertise needed to solve their complex challenges.

Since its creation following the Great Flood of 1927, the Engineer Research and Development Center and its forerunner have constructed thousands of physical models to support projects across our nation in streams, rivers, inlets, estuaries and coasts. ERDC has the deep expertise and unique facilities to do robust physical modeling of coastal and hydraulic structures, including two three-dimensional wave generators and three two-dimensional wave flumes. It also combines its vast physical modeling capabilities with high-tech numerical modeling to improve navigation, optimize the design of structures, understand the response and resiliency of natural features, and solve some of the toughest civil works and military operational challenges facing our nation today. ERDC’s models are value-added, saving projects millions of dollars by improving designs and saving them from failure.