DUCK, N.C. – The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) will hold a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new annex building at its Field Research Facility in Duck, North Carolina, January 19 at 10 a.m. EST.
The $4.3-million annex consists of laboratory and research administrative spaces in support of the organization’s expanded military research mission and was made possible by an Unspecified Minor Military Construction Authority contract.
Founded in 1977, the research facility has maintained a comprehensive, long-term monitoring program of the coastal ocean — including waves, tides, currents, local meteorology and the associated beach response. Now part of the ERDC’s Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory, the facility is an internationally recognized observatory and premier location for conducting complex and comprehensive nearshore research and engineering studies.
The compound comprises 176 acres with a 1,840-foot steel and concrete pier and a 140-foot observation tower, as well as specialized vehicles such as the Coastal Research Amphibious Buggy and the Lighter Amphibious Resupply Cargo vehicle. These capabilities have led to many multi-agency, multi-investor collaborations resulting in Duck Beach becoming the best-studied beach in the world.
“The Field Research Facility is truly a unique facility,” said Dr. Ty Wamsley, Director of the Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory. “Anyone who is part of the coastal engineering community — no matter where they work in the entire world — knows about the research facility, and many of them have used our data sets in their research.”
In collaboration with the Army’s Maneuver Center of Excellence, the new 4,008 square-foot annex building will help strengthen research in developing methods to protect forces, conduct forcible and early entry and transition rapidly to offensive operations.
The ERDC is the research organization of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and helps solve the nation’s most challenging problems in civil and military engineering, geospatial sciences, water resources and environmental sciences. As one of the most diverse engineering and scientific research organizations in the world, the ERDC conducts research and development in support of the Soldier, military installations and the USACE civil works mission, as well as for other federal, state and municipal authorities.
A part of the ERDC, the Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory addresses an entire spectrum of water resource challenges in groundwater, watersheds, rivers, reservoirs, estuaries, harbors, coastal inlets and wetlands. In 2013, the Field Research Facility was reorganized as a branch of the laboratory.