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  • March

    ERDC's Fabrication Shops serve as a unique capability within USACE, providing the Corps with the ability to quickly design, build or repair specialized mechanisms needed to accomplish the mission. Comprised of the Machine Shop, Model Shop and Welding Shop, the team of nearly 30 craftsmen works closely with engineers and project teams to fabricate everything from hydraulic models to field repairs.

    From concept to creation: ERDC Fabrication Shops power innovation

    ERDC’s Fabrication Shops serve as a unique capability within USACE, providing the Corps with the ability to quickly design, build or repair specialized mechanisms needed to accomplish the mission. Comprised of the Machine Shop, Model Shop and Welding Shop, the team of nearly 30 craftsmen works closely with engineers and project teams to fabricate everything from hydraulic models to field repairs.

  • February

    People watching colored dye disperse in water.

    Testing continues on lock improvements along upper Ohio River

    As navigation improvements continue along the upper Ohio River, a team of researchers at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) are developing physical models to test new designs of the lock systems to ensure they function as intended.

  • August

    Mini Dambot performs inspection

    DamBot Mini successfully tested at Alamo Dam

    The DamBot Mini, an unmanned robotic inspection platform developed by team members at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) Information Technology Laboratory (ITL), was recently deployed at Alamo Dam in northwest Arizona for field testing in a relevant operational environment. This test was coordinated with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Los Angeles District to coincide with inspection work many years in the planning. The platform successfully collected imagery and a lidar point cloud of the lower conduit and delivered these data products to the district.
  • An underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) is deployed during testing at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center in Vicksburg, Mississippi.

    Rover technology helps USACE keep tabs on aging infrastructure, dredging operations

    To help U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) districts perform aquatic infrastructure inspections in a safe, cost-effective manner and with higher quality, the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) is testing the use of a commercially available underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV).

  • November

    Taylor Rycroft, a research environmental engineer, was named the 2024 USACE Researcher of the Year for his work with the Wellbot and Cyanobacterial Suppression through Ultraviolet-C Neutralization (CyanoSTUN) technologies.

    ERDC’s Taylor Rycroft named USACE Researcher of the Year

    A researcher with the U. S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Environmental Laboratory (EL) is receiving recognition for his role in protecting the environment. Taylor Rycroft, a research environmental engineer, was named the 2024 USACE Researcher of the Year for his work with the Wellbot and Cyanobacterial Suppression Through Ultraviolet-C Neutralization (CyanoSTUN) technologies.

  • July

    Wellbot is an autonomous device that blends the power of UVC-emitting lamps with powerful brushes to address the fouling and corrosion that limits a well’s capacity.

    Wellbot offers innovative solution to cleaning, maintaining relief wells

    Wellbot is an autonomous device that blends the power of UVC-emitting lamps with powerful brushes to address the fouling and corrosion that limits a well’s capacity. It provides districts with a cost-effective alternative without the potential risk from using chemicals, or the need for significant equipment and manpower to deploy.

  • April

    Levees are a vital part of modern flood risk management. They are part of flood defense systems that may also include flood walls, pumping stations, gates closures, and other associated structures. These elements work together to reduce risk to human life and reduce economic damages from flood events.

    Analyzing levees to save lives

    The Levee Screening Tool (LST) 2 is a web-based application that quantifies risk estimates based on the likelihood of flood loading, expected performance of the levee under those loads and the potential consequences of a levee breach or overtopping.
  • DETER is an active vehicle barrier that serves as an expedient access control solution to protect critical assets and soft targets from vehicular attack.

    Protecting Dam Facilities with innovative new technology

    As terrorists and extremist groups turn to less sophisticated methods to inflict harm, the use of vehicles in these types of attacks has shown the potential for catastrophic damages to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) projects. In response, USACE researchers developed the DETER (Deployable Expedient Traffic Entry Regulator) vehicle barrier for Soft Asset Protection at Dam Facilities.

  • January

    A crane sits on top of the spillway at the Ice Harbor Dam on the Snake River in Washington. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers operates and maintains approximately 740 dams and associated structures that provide significant benefits to the nation.

    Researchers develop tools to forecast risk of potential infrastructure failure

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) operates and maintains approximately 740 dams and associated structures that provide significant, multiple benefits to the nation. In order to effectively operate and maintain those dams, USACE applies risk-informed decision making to evaluate, prioritize and justify dam safety decisions. Using risk information allows the organization to repair its dams in the most effective manner within a constrained budget.

  • October

    A critical component of the region’s navigation and flood control management, the Tuttle Creek Reservoir, located on the Big Blue River in Kansas, has lost an estimated 46 percent of its original storage capacity due to sedimentation. (Photo by USACE Ranger Keith Morlewski)

    Dwindling capacity at Tuttle Creek Reservoir calls for an urgent and innovative solution

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is no stranger to sediment build-up issues. The organization is responsible for maintaining and managing thousands of miles of inland and intracoastal waterways, channels, ports and harbors with a dredging budget of more than $1.7 billion in fiscal year 2023 alone. Presently, USACE researchers are taking on a slightly different challenge and investigating new methods to diminish the accumulation of sediment in lakes and reservoirs caused by dams.

  • August

    Garrett Hall, senior mechanical engineer for Portland District's Dalles Dam, has been selected for ERDC University. The goal of his six-month project is to gain knowledge from ERDC’s processes and capabilities in the Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory for Dalles Dam improvements.

    Portland District's Garrett Hall selected for ERDC University

    Researchers from 10 U.S. Army Corps of Engineer Districts have been selected for the 2023 session of the Engineer Research and Development Center University (ERDC-U). Garrett Hall, senior mechanical engineer with the Portland District’s Dalles Lock and Dam, has been chosen as a participant for this developmental program.

  • July

    Researchers at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center are using a 1:100 scale navigation approach model to test designs for a new auxiliary lock structure for the Montgomery Lock on the Ohio River. The model will help evaluate guard wall lengths in relation to navigation conditions as well as how safely a vessel can navigate into the lock on both sides. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo)

    ERDC researchers test designs for lock improvements along the Upper Ohio River

    Researchers from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) have partnered with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Pittsburgh District for a study focused on replacing auxiliary locks at three sites along the Upper Ohio River — Montgomery Lock, Emsworth Lock and Dashields Lock.

  • August

    Aerial view of the Prado Dam, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers structure near Corona, California.

    New trial for using advanced weather forecasts to retain more water proves successful

    A new report evaluating a pilot program to use advanced weather and streamflow forecasts to enhance water storage capabilities at a Riverside County, California, dam found that enough water could be conserved to supply an additional 60,000 people per year.

  • March

    A U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) prototype site characterization vehicle demonstrates its amphibious capabilities during testing at the ERDC Levee Breach Model in Vicksburg, Mississippi, Oct. 7, 2020. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo)

    ERDC researchers combine robotics, imagery technology to solve problems

    The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Construction Engineering Research Laboratory’s Robotics for Engineer Operations (REO) team is combining efforts with the Information Technology Laboratory’s Robotic Assessment of Dams (DamBot) team to tackle challenges posed by both combat engineer operations abroad and infrastructure at home.
  • A robotic system known as the Dambot operates near closure gates at Blue Mountain Dam, Arkansas in October 2020. Dambot takes the human element out of a dangerous but necessary U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) maintenance task. The cutting-edge technology has been successfully tested and stands poised to change the course of closure gate assessments, while also safeguarding USACE team members. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo)

    Dambot takes the lead on dangerous assessments

    A U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center team is designing robotic systems to keep humans out of harm’s way. Sounding more like the plot of an action movie than a research and development project, a robotic system known as Dambot takes the human element out of a dangerous but necessary U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) maintenance task. The cutting-edge technology has already been successfully tested and stands poised to change the course of closure gate assessments, while also safeguarding USACE team members.