Contaminated sediments in aquatic environments are a pressing concern, posing significant risks to ecosystems and public health. The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) is at the forefront of addressing this critical issue. In the ERDC Environmental Laboratory, engineers are developing innovative solutions to mitigate the impact of these contaminants, working to protect both the environment and communities that rely on clean water. In addition to contaminated sediments, the lab also addresses the management of dredged materials. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredges millions of cubic yards of sediment annually to maintain navigable waters. Finding sustainable uses for this material is essential. Watch to learn more.

Contaminated sediments in aquatic environments are a pressing concern, posing significant risks to ecosystems and public health. The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) is at the forefront of addressing this critical issue. In the ERDC Environmental Laboratory, engineers are developing innovative solutions to mitigate the impact of these contaminants, working to protect both the environment and communities that rely on clean water. In addition to contaminated sediments, the lab also addresses the management of dredged materials. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers dredges millions of cubic yards of sediment annually to maintain navigable waters. Finding sustainable uses for this material is essential. Watch to learn more.

The Port of Long Beach, California, is the second busiest port in the United States. It handles more than nine-million 20-foot container units each year with cargo valued at $200 billion. Yet existing channel dimensions and tidal delays pose limitations and inefficiencies for current and future deep draft vessel traffic. To navigate the port complex, these larger vessels must carry a lighter load from their point of origin, which ultimately increases the nation’s transportation costs by requiring more ships to move cargo into and out of the complex. In 2016, Port of Long Beach officials began to address these constraints and sought federal assistance from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District to conduct a deep draft navigation feasibility study of the port to widen and deepen its navigation channel. To test its proposed channel design improvements, District project engineers reached out to the U.S. Army’s Watercraft and Ship Simulator, headquartered at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) in Vicksburg, Mississippi, to run ship simulations with pilots from the Port of Long Beach. The feasibility study was completed in 2021 and included in the Water Resources Development Act of 2022. The project is now in the pre-construction engineering design phase, and Los Angeles District project engineers have once again sought out ERDC’s expertise in ship simulation to help verify the navigability and safety of the selected channel design. Watch to learn more.

The Port of Long Beach, California, is the second busiest port in the United States. It handles more than nine-million 20-foot container units each year with cargo valued at $200 billion. Yet existing channel dimensions and tidal delays pose limitations and inefficiencies for current and future deep draft vessel traffic. To navigate the port complex, these larger vessels must carry a lighter load from their point of origin, which ultimately increases the nation’s transportation costs by requiring more ships to move cargo into and out of the complex. In 2016, Port of Long Beach officials began to address these constraints and sought federal assistance from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District to conduct a deep draft navigation feasibility study of the port to widen and deepen its navigation channel. To test its proposed channel design improvements, District project engineers reached out to the U.S. Army’s Watercraft and Ship Simulator, headquartered at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) in Vicksburg, Mississippi, to run ship simulations with pilots from the Port of Long Beach. The feasibility study was completed in 2021 and included in the Water Resources Development Act of 2022. The project is now in the pre-construction engineering design phase, and Los Angeles District project engineers have once again sought out ERDC’s expertise in ship simulation to help verify the navigability and safety of the selected channel design. Watch to learn more.

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.”

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.”

ERDC’s Construction Engineering Research Lab recently hosted a unique community event at Riggs Beer Company to connect CERL’s innovative research with the Champaign-Urbana community.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has set an ambitious goal to beneficially use 70 percent of its dredged sediment by 2030. It’s a big challenge that will require innovative solutions for fine-grained dredged sediments that cannot be used for traditional applications, such as beach nourishment. Researchers at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Environmental Laboratory are working to overcome these challenges as they develop methods for deploying dredged sediment as feeder stock in 3D printing. Beyond the mechanical processes of using dredged sediment for 3D printing, ERDC researchers are also pioneering pre- and post-processing methods to help determine the material’s feasibility for being safely reintroduced into the environment. These printed structures will be used to enhance habitat, infrastructure, sediment containment, and energy dissipation, among other benefits. Little data on these processes currently exists and ERDC is looking to close that knowledge gap. Watch to learn more.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has set an ambitious goal to beneficially use 70 percent of its dredged sediment by 2030. It’s a big challenge that will require innovative solutions for fine-grained dredged sediments that cannot be used for traditional applications, such as beach nourishment. Researchers at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Environmental Laboratory are working to overcome these challenges as they develop methods for deploying dredged sediment as feeder stock in 3D printing. Beyond the mechanical processes of using dredged sediment for 3D printing, ERDC researchers are also pioneering pre- and post-processing methods to help determine the material’s feasibility for being safely reintroduced into the environment. These printed structures will be used to enhance habitat, infrastructure, sediment containment, and energy dissipation, among other benefits. Little data on these processes currently exists and ERDC is looking to close that knowledge gap. Watch to learn more.

Kate Trubac from the the U.S. Army Engineer Research and...

The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) recently hosted six cadets from the U.S. Military Academy and U.S. Air Force Academy for a hands-on research and development experience in support of its Intelligent Environmental Battlespace Awareness Program. The two-week internship focused on field data collection at the U.S. Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center in Bridgeport, California, and modeling development at ERDC’s Environmental Laboratory in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The work the cadets performed during their time at ERDC will have real world impacts. Data collected will be used to inform predictive global vegetation models that can be used to inform military operational planning. Before returning to their respective academies, some of the cadets took a moment to share their thoughts about their time at ERDC. Watch the video here.

ERDC researchers are collaborating with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Kansas City District and the Kansas Biological Survey to study cyanobacteria in their natural environment to inform harmful algal bloom management and ultimately lead to a HAB modeling tool that can be used for other waterways.

Dr. David Young and Dr. Brandan Scully from the U.S....

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.

The innovative team at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) hosted CERLCon24 – short for CERL Connection – recently. Featuring more than 80 presentations, posters and technical sessions, CERLCon aimed to foster critical connections between the laboratories world-class branches and teams. The three-day event brought together the CERL research and support community and built upon the foundation of collaboration built during CERLCon23, the first such event for the laboratory located in Champaign, Illinois. This video, which highlighted many of the laboratory’s facilities, capabilities, and talented and diverse workforce, kicked off the week’s festivities.

Researchers at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) are working in support of ERDC’s Flood and Coastal Risk Management Program to better inform efficient and economic dam safety monitoring by studying how the use of fully grouted vibrating wire piezometers compares to traditional methods. The geotechnical community has promoted fully grouted vibrating wire piezometer installations over conventional piezometers because of their ability to successfully monitor multiple zones within the same borehole. This method also requires fewer drilled holes, resulting in a reduced overall drilling cost. To accomplish their data collection, ERDC researchers worked in collaboration with the USACE Nashville District, which provided the test site, and the USACE Savannah District, which provided drilling equipment and expertise.