The Army Corps of Engineers' Engineer Research and Development Center's Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory's Remote Sensing GIS Center of Excellence has a unique group of engineers, scientists, and researchers who use Light Detection and Ranging, or LiDAR, to scan areas to create incredibly detailed maps of those zones. Adam LeWinter, a CRREL research physical scientist, walks though the process of how LiDAR works, and shows off the incredible capabilities of the RS/GIS Center of Excellence's mobile LiDAR van.

Dr. Julie Rosati and Dr. Anton Netchaev from the U.S....

By combining its decades of experience in modeling the maneuverability of both watercraft and ground vehicles, the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center provides capabilities that enable virtual planning and rehearsal of military littoral operations. Benefitting from ERDC’s superior numerical modeling expertise, ERDC’s Ship Simulator has been used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers since the 1980s to detect potential problems in navigational channel design, enabling safer and more efficient waterways. Meanwhile, ERDC’s expertise in ground vehicle mobility modeling traces its roots to World War II. Now, ERDC works to pair its modern watercraft and ground vehicle simulation tools to provide a solution for operational planners, commanders, and operators to enable ship-through-shore mission planning and rehearsal in multi-domain environments.

Robert "RJ" Jones, a soil microbiologist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Engineer Research and Development Center's Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, wants everyone to know that dirt is a bad word when talking about the incredible microorganisms that live in soil. He briefly describes just how the CRREL is using those little living things to keep U.S. service members safe while on patrols.

Following the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, as the nation and world turned their attention to the War on Terror, researchers at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) saw their mission change dramatically. For the past 20 years, researchers have discovered, developed and delivered crucial technologies that have saved the lives of those serving overseas.

A Pentagon renovation during the late 1990s and early 2000s incorporated design elements from years of research by the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) in blast effects and anti-terrorism building design. During the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, that research would be put to the test, ultimately saving lives.

Technical directors Pam Kinnebrew and Nick Boone from...

Dr. David Pittman, Director of the U.S. Army Engineer Research & Development Center, reflects on the research conducted by ERDC over the past 20 years to develop and deliver engineering solutions to make the world safer, guided by the memory of the lives lost on 9/11 and in the subsequent conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Never forget. We remember.

Kathryn Trubac, a research general engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Engineer Research and Development Center's Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, has been hard at work developing a battery designed to start U.S. military Stryker in extreme cold environments.

Dr. Gabe Monroe from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and...

Dr. Jen Seiter-Moser and Molly Reif from the U.S. Army...

The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center's Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory celebrates 60 years of service to the nation. The director of the lab expresses his vision for the lab's future, and its engineers and scientists discuss what it means to them to work for the organization.

Regardless of their size, islands play a critical role in providing valuable habitat, recreation opportunities, and coastal protection by reducing erosion and wave energy to nearby shorelines. Benefits are derived from the fact that islands often consist of multiple habitats that span different elevations, like beaches, dunes and marshes. These habitats in succession act as a multiple lines of defense strategy to reduce wave energy and loss of habitat. However, islands have been disappearing at an alarming rate along the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic coast of the United States. And as islands disappear, so do their valuable habitats and the critical protective functions they provide. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been addressing this challenge by restoring and creating islands through the beneficial use of dredged sediment, which is increasing habitats and protecting nearby shorelines. USACE’s Engineering With Nature initiative is taking island restoration one step further by partnering with its Baltimore District and multiple stakeholders for the restoration of Swan Island in the Chesapeake Bay. The Swan Island restoration provided a unique opportunity to quantify and evaluate island performance and use that data to inform future monitoring and adaptive management strategies.

Dr. Ben Cox and fellow team members from the Airfields and Pavements Branch of the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center's Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory utilize a new technique for creating hot mix asphalt. The researchers demonstrate how induction heating technology, similar to that of a microwave, can be leveraged to repair airfields and pavements throughout the world. This technology is one of many innovations that will be discussed during the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Innovation Summit scheduled in October 2021.

Kathryn Trubac, a research engineer from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, discussing the testing of vehicle batteries with the goal of improving cold start capabilities of military Stryker combat vehicles. This technology is one of many innovations that will be discussed during the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Innovation Summit scheduled in October 2021.

Researchers and engineers from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center's Coastal Hydraulics Laboratory (CHL) partner with the Wetlands Institute at the Seven Mile Island Innovation Lab to discover new ways of protecting bird habitats that reside in estuaries. The laboratory team is attempting to leverage a form of beneficial use dredging to rehabilitate marsh sediment that was previously uninhabitable to bird species. Dave Perkey, the deputy director of the Regional Sediment Management Program, and Dr. Jarrell Smith, a research hydraulics engineer from the CHL, discuss recent research efforts while working in New Jersey in spring 2021.

Researchers and engineers from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Coastal Hydraulics Laboratory partner with the Wetlands Institute at the Seven Mile Island Innovation Lab to investigate new methods of beneficial use dredging. The researchers are rehabilitating sediment onto low lying marshes and creating berms to protect shorelines. The team has installed observation platforms with instruments that will collect data continuously to provide insight into the effectiveness of the technique. Dave Perkey, the deputy director of the Regional Sediment Management Program, and Dr. Jarrell Smith, a research hydraulics engineer from the CHL, discuss recent research efforts while working in New Jersey in spring 2021.

Dr. Keith Martin, a research physicist at the U.S. Army...

The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center's Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) assists the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard with testing aerial and underwater remote controlled drones in order to measure oil spill thickness in August 2021. CRREL, located in Hanover, New Hampshire, is one of the few places in the nation where federal and private organizations can test new oil spill measuring technologies in arctic conditions.