For the first time ever, the team used a specially designed container to collect and transport a living dune sample to the lab to be tested in a controlled environment. By testing a section of a living dune from the field where it’s been able to go through its natural growth cycle, the team hopes of learning more about coastal dune resiliency to help better inform coastal management strategies. Watch the video to learn more about this innovative work.

Each year, the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) welcomes hundreds of student interns from colleges and universities across the nation, including several students from our nation’s military academies. The hands-on research experience they receive, and the opportunity to work alongside engineers and scientists who are leaders in their field, helps forge a relationship between the top researchers of today and our nation’s leaders of tomorrow. “If you want to intern here at ERDC, you will have an experience unlike any other you will have in your career. You get the opportunity to work alongside world-class researchers and premiere facilities and tackle a swath of problems you might not even have known existed,” Leigh Provost, a research hydraulic engineer at ERDC’s Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory, said. “… if you want the opportunity to work in an area that's essentially a playground for engineers, this is the place to be.”

Leveraging the unique robotic capabilities and facilities at the Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, part of the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, engineers are working on a basic research project aimed at lightening Soldier loads and reducing the amount of personnel and machinery needed for down-range missions. The project, which goes by the acronym Co3MaNDR, uses a series of cable-driven robots that work together to reduce the lifting burden on front line military personnel, ultimately allowing distributed robotic systems to conduct complex military and maintenance efforts under the control of a single operator. Using a series of modules mounted on robotic platforms, Soldiers could potentially handle heavier equipment more easily, endure repetitive lifting tasks longer, or even coordinate heavy equipment near front lines from a remote location. To learn more about the mission and development of Co3MaNDR, watch this video.

The U.S. Army Engineer and Research Development Center (ERDC) broke ground recently on its new Permafrost Tunnel Operations Facility, a 4,300 square-foot building that will contribute to significant advances in permafrost engineering and geotechnical research. The facility will be built adjacent to the CRREL Permafrost Tunnel Research Facility in Fox, Alaska. Expected to be completed in November 2025, it will house a laboratory with cold storage and a three-dimensional permafrost test bed, as well as office and meeting space, a visitor briefing area, and garage work and maintenance space.

Is a summer camp for future Engineers and Scientist. Gains in the Education of Mathematics and Science.

Millions of acres of surface water nationwide are infested with non-indigenous, problem-causing aquatic plants like Eurasian watermilfoil, hydrilla and yellow floating heart. These plants, with no natural enemies in the United States, can be detrimental to our aquatic ecosystems – interfering with navigation, flood control, hydropower production and waterborne recreation. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) faces this challenge daily in the management of more than 5.5-million surface acres of water at its reservoir and navigation projects across the United States. Aquatic plant management in the U.S. costs millions annually to USACE districts and states, primarily through herbicide application. However, other solutions are being explored by USACE’s Aquatic Plant Control Research Program. The Aquatic Plant Control Research Program has been leveraging the expertise and world-class facilities of the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) in the development of management strategies for these non-indigenous aquatic plants. To gain knowledge of these plant species, ERDC’s researchers have fostered international collaborations with partners across the globe. These partnerships are instrumental in gathering year-round data. Their latest effort has taken them to South Korea in the search for a suitable biological control agent for Yellow Floating Heart. Watch to learn more.

Millions of acres of surface water nationwide are infested with non-indigenous, problem-causing aquatic plants like Eurasian watermilfoil, hydrilla and yellow floating heart. These plants, with no natural enemies in the United States, can be detrimental to our aquatic ecosystems – interfering with navigation, flood control, hydropower production and waterborne recreation. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) faces this challenge daily in the management of more than 5.5-million surface acres of water at its reservoir and navigation projects across the United States. Aquatic plant management in the U.S. costs millions annually to USACE districts and states, primarily through herbicide application. However, other solutions are being explored by USACE’s Aquatic Plant Control Research Program. The Aquatic Plant Control Research Program has been leveraging the expertise and world-class facilities of the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) in the development of management strategies for these non-indigenous aquatic plants. To gain knowledge of these plant species, ERDC’s researchers have fostered international collaborations with partners across the globe. These partnerships are instrumental in gathering year-round data. Their latest effort has taken them to South Korea in the search for a suitable biological control agent for Yellow Floating Heart. Watch to learn more.

The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) takes on highly interdisciplinary research areas that are of critical importance to military operations. ERDC’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory is at the forefront of research that’s supporting the Department of Defense’s Arctic Strategy and capabilities in areas such as mobility and extreme cold weather operations. To better help the military achieve mission success in the Arctic’s extreme environment, ERDC has been focused on the region’s primary challenge, ice. An interdisciplinary team of researchers is now engaged in studying the material properties of ice -- examining it as both an adversary and a resource, with the objective of advancing force projection and force protection capabilities in Arctic regions. Watch to learn more.

The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) takes on highly interdisciplinary research areas that are of critical importance to military operations. ERDC’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory is at the forefront of research that’s supporting the Department of Defense’s Arctic Strategy and capabilities in areas such as mobility and extreme cold weather operations. To better help the military achieve mission success in the Arctic’s extreme environment, ERDC has been focused on the region’s primary challenge, ice. An interdisciplinary team of researchers is now engaged in studying the material properties of ice -- examining it as both an adversary and a resource, with the objective of advancing force projection and force protection capabilities in Arctic regions. Watch to learn more.

Clean water can often be an afterthought in our daily lives, but not for the ERDC researchers who are performing state-of-the-art science and engineering to address sustainable water infrastructure challenges, such as providing clean water, as well as removing contaminants and extracting resources from water. This research space is focused on emerging contaminants, which are a consequence of high technology and advanced chemicals. To meet this challenge, ERDC is implementing a multidisciplinary approach that harnesses material technologies and processes that not only treat and remove contaminants from various water sources, but also target specific contaminants. These water infrastructure solutions will serve not only our military, but the nation too.

One of ERDC’s key research areas is focused on improving the performance of conventional concrete and asphalt-type materials by incorporating advanced two-dimensional, or 2D, materials such as graphene. These 2D materials offer superior mechanical, chemical, thermal and electrical properties. Concrete, asphalt, and fiber-reinforced polymer composites modified with graphene and 2D nano materials have shown promising results for increased strength and durability. ERDC researchers are also leveraging advanced composites to strengthen layered materials, like modular panels – making them more blast resistant without sacrificing logistical advantages. This material systems research will expand pathways to more sustainable and resilient solutions for numerous military and civil works challenges.

One of ERDC’s key research areas is focused on improving the performance of conventional concrete and asphalt-type materials by incorporating advanced two-dimensional, or 2D, materials such as graphene. These 2D materials offer superior mechanical, chemical, thermal and electrical properties. Concrete, asphalt, and fiber-reinforced polymer composites modified with graphene and 2D nano materials have shown promising results for increased strength and durability. ERDC researchers are also leveraging advanced composites to strengthen layered materials, like modular panels – making them more blast resistant without sacrificing logistical advantages. This material systems research will expand pathways to more sustainable and resilient solutions for numerous military and civil works challenges.

As advanced manufacturing technology continues to evolve, researchers at ERDC’s Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory are working to leverage this technology’s full potential for the development of new material systems. They are expanding 3D printing solutions to create material properties for military engineering and civil works applications that couldn’t otherwise be created -- broadening the protection of both our troops and our nation’s infrastructure.

As advanced manufacturing technology continues to evolve, researchers at ERDC’s Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory are working to leverage this technology’s full potential for the development of new material systems. They are expanding 3D printing solutions to create material properties for military engineering and civil works applications that couldn’t otherwise be created -- broadening the protection of both our troops and our nation’s infrastructure.