20 Apr 2026

New Poe Lock Emergency Closure System Physical Model Study

Abstract: The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)–Detroit District (LRE) has begun the process of designing a new emergency bulkhead for Poe Lock in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, and has requested assistance from the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory, in determining the hydraulic loads the bulkhead will experience during operation. The US Army Engineer Research and Development Center has constructed a 1:25 scale physical hydraulic model to estimate the hydraulic forces on the bulkhead and pressure on the bulkhead sill during lowering operations. Multiple bulkhead lowering speeds and bulkhead lip designs have been tested over the course of the study. This report provides time histories of the hydraulic loads and bulkhead pressures throughout the bulkhead lowering operations. These results will inform the design of the emergency bulkhead and the size of its operating equipment.

15 Jun 2021

Red River Structure Physical Model Study: Bulkhead Testing

Abstract: The US Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, and its non-federal sponsors are designing and constructing a flood risk management project that will reduce the risk of flooding in the Fargo-Moorhead metropolitan area. There is a 30-mile long diversion channel around the west side of the city of Fargo, as well as a staging area that will be formed upstream of a 20-mile long dam (referred to as the Southern Embankment) that collectively includes an earthen embankment with three gated structures: the Diversion Inlet Structure, the Wild Rice River Structure, and the Red River Structure (RRS). A physical model has been constructed and analyzed to assess the hydraulic conditions near and at the RRS for verification of the structure’s flow capacity as well as optimization of design features for the structure. This report describes the modeling techniques and instrumentation used in the investigation and details the evaluation of the forces exerted on the proposed bulkheads during emergency operations for the RRS.