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Video by Jeff Chao, Christopher Kieffer
Coastal & Hydraulics Laboratory Modeling Capabilities
Since its creation following the Great Flood of 1927, the Engineer Research and Development Center and its forerunner have constructed thousands of physical models to support projects across our nation in streams, rivers, inlets, estuaries and coasts.
ERDC has the deep expertise and unique facilities to do robust physical modeling of coastal and hydraulic structures, including two three-dimensional wave generators and three two-dimensional wave flumes. It also combines its vast physical modeling capabilities with high-tech numerical modeling to improve navigation, optimize the design of structures, understand the response and resiliency of natural features, and solve some of the toughest civil works and military operational challenges facing our nation today.
ERDC’s models are value-added, saving projects millions of dollars by improving designs and saving them from failure.
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4:40
Coastal & Hydraulics Laboratory Modeling Capabilities
Since its creation following the Great Flood of 1927, the Engineer Research and Development Center and its forerunner have constructed thousands of physical models to support projects across our nation in streams, rivers, inlets, estuaries and coasts. ERDC has the deep expertise and unique facilities to do robust physical modeling of coastal and hydraulic structures, including two three-dimensional wave generators and three two-dimensional wave flumes. It also combines its vast physical modeling capabilities with high-tech numerical modeling to improve navigation, optimize the design of structures, understand the response and resiliency of natural features, and solve some of the toughest civil works and military operational challenges facing our nation today. ERDC’s models are value-added, saving projects millions of dollars by improving designs and saving them from failure.
4:29
Field Research Facility Capabilities
Researchers at ERDC’s Field Research Facility in Duck, North Carolina, have kept watch on the coast for more than 40 years, creating a vibrant research hub that remains at the forefront of coastal science and engineering today. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, the internationally renowned coastal observatory serves as a natural lab and test bed for field instrumentation and numerical models. Its ever-expanding and evolving array of sensors continuously measures waves, currents and morphology, providing foundational datasets that have been used in more than 1,000 scientific publications to date. The FRF supports ERDC’s civil and military missions by advancing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ knowledge of the coastal environment through field observation, data analysis, numerical exploration, and technology development. If it is coastal research, the FRF is one of the first places people are going for the data, tools and expertise needed to solve their complex challenges.
3:30
Coastal Engineering Research Board
The Coastal Engineering Research Board has set the standards for the coastal engineering community throughout the past century. With its membership including U.S. Army Corps of Engineers leaders and prominent civilians internationally recognized in the coastal engineering field, the seven-member board advises the Corps’ commander on coastal engineering and science. Throughout its history, CERB has been instrumental in shaping new innovations and approaches, including the establishment of a Field Research Facility along the North Carolina coast, development of airborne LIDAR bathymetry, and the promotion of a new approach to manage systems through risk reduction. Today, CERB continues to be an internationally renowned voice whose recommendations will leave resounding impacts for generations to come.
1:55
ERDC CRREL Oil Spill Response Testing
The Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory partnered with multiple government agencies and Worcester Polytechnic Institute to test oil spill response research. The laboratory, along with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement and Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), is implementing new methods to burn crude oil more efficiently.
4:48
Ice adhesion basic research
Icing threatens the safety and success of military and civilian operations around the globe, as the rapid accumulation of ice can hinder mobility, damage infrastructure and impede communications. Existing treatments are either both costly and labor intensive or limited in their scope because little is known about the underlying scientific principles that make passive coatings effective. That’s why a team of ERDC researchers is conducting innovative basic research to unravel the physical processes that govern ice adhesion. Their research will create a fundamental understanding of the microscale mechanisms that control how ice attaches to various surfaces, paving the way for future development of new protective and advanced materials and the expansion of existing treatments to broader applications and other fields. This project is another example of how ERDC’s basic research is solving the impossible problems of our future battlespace.
4:51
Ice adhesion basic research
Icing threatens the safety and success of military and civilian operations around the globe, as the rapid accumulation of ice can hinder mobility, damage infrastructure and impede communications. Existing treatments are either both costly and labor intensive or limited in their scope because little is known about the underlying scientific principles that make passive coatings effective. That’s why a team of ERDC researchers is conducting innovative basic research to unravel the physical processes that govern ice adhesion. Their research will create a fundamental understanding of the microscale mechanisms that control how ice attaches to various surfaces, paving the way for future development of new protective and advanced materials and the expansion of existing treatments to broader applications and other fields. This project is another example of how ERDC’s basic research is solving the impossible problems of our future battlespace.
4:29
Coastal & Hydraulics Laboratory Field Research Facility Capabilities
Researchers at ERDC’s Field Research Facility in Duck, North Carolina, have kept watch on the coast for more than 40 years, creating a vibrant research hub that remains at the forefront of coastal science and engineering today. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, the internationally renowned coastal observatory serves as a natural lab and test bed for field instrumentation and numerical models. Its ever-expanding and evolving array of sensors continuously measures waves, currents and morphology, providing foundational datasets that have been used in more than 1,000 scientific publications to date. The FRF supports ERDC’s civil and military missions by advancing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ knowledge of the coastal environment through field observation, data analysis, numerical exploration, and technology development. If it is coastal research, the FRF is one of the first places people are going for the data, tools and expertise needed to solve their complex challenges.
4:40
Coastal & Hydraulics Laboratory Modeling Capabilities
Since its creation following the Great Flood of 1927, the Engineer Research and Development Center and its forerunner have constructed thousands of physical models to support projects across our nation in streams, rivers, inlets, estuaries and coasts. ERDC has the deep expertise and unique facilities to do robust physical modeling of coastal and hydraulic structures, including two three-dimensional wave generators and three two-dimensional wave flumes. It also combines its vast physical modeling capabilities with high-tech numerical modeling to improve navigation, optimize the design of structures, understand the response and resiliency of natural features, and solve some of the toughest civil works and military operational challenges facing our nation today. ERDC’s models are value-added, saving projects millions of dollars by improving designs and saving them from failure.
3:30
Coastal Engineering Research Board
The Coastal Engineering Research Board has set the standards for the coastal engineering community throughout the past century. With its membership including U.S. Army Corps of Engineers leaders and prominent civilians internationally recognized in the coastal engineering field, the seven-member board advises the Corps’ commander on coastal engineering and science. Throughout its history, CERB has been instrumental in shaping new innovations and approaches, including the establishment of a Field Research Facility along the North Carolina coast, development of airborne LIDAR bathymetry, and the promotion of a new approach to manage systems through risk reduction. Today, CERB continues to be an internationally renowned voice whose recommendations will leave resounding impacts for generations to come.
4:04
Post-Wildlife Flood Risk Management 2020
The deadly force of post-wildfire floods can destroy infrastructure and habitats even miles away from the burned areas. Santa Barbara County, California experienced this first hand in January 2018, following the Thomas Fire. Researchers from ERDC's Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory are improving models to help communities like Santa Barbara better understand and manage the impact of debris flows. As the wildfire ends, our work begins. For more information, contact: Wildfire@erdc.dren.mil
4:34
Earth Day Every Day: ERDC Environmental Solutions
The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) is proud to have a long history of discovering, developing and delivering new ways to protect our environment. Today, ERDC continues to produce world-class research to support the Corps of Engineers’ Environmental Operating Principles. That includes methods to remove blue-green algae from large bodies of water and break down its toxins into useful products like biofuels and fertilizer. ERDC is leading a collaborative effort to address the legacy issues of PFAS, and is providing more environmentally friendly and sustainable technologies for Army installations. It is helping the Corps beneficially use dredged sediment to nourish wetlands, and is helping local governments prepare for the flood threat that follows destructive wildfires. ERDC’s commitment to improving and sustaining the environment remains steadfast.
5:02
Coastal Inlets Research Program
Charged with operating more than 13,000 miles of coastal navigation channels, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers needs robust decision-support technologies to better manage its vast portfolio. ERDC’s Coastal Inlets Research Program infuses these technologies into the hands of practitioners to ensure mission success. The program develops a robust suite of engineering technology focused on Coastal Modeling, Inlet Engineering, Inlet Geomorphic Evolution and Coastal Navigation Portfolio Management. Its tools support the Corps of Engineers from engineers and scientists working at the project scale to regional- and national-level business line managers overseeing the Navigation Operations and Maintenance Program. Its modeling techniques accelerate the prediction of processes and cut costs by several orders of magnitude.
2:33
ERDC Answers the Coronavirus Call
Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite has made headlines for his plans to construct makeshift hospital rooms across the country as the Nation prepares for an onslaught of COVID-19 patients. On Monday, Semonite turned to the Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) in Vicksburg to ask for help accomplishing that mission. Within an hour of the initial phone call, the ERDC Directorate of Public Works (DPW) staff had gathered and begun preparing to build two types of mock-up hospital rooms.
2:33
ERDC Responds to COVID-19
Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite has made headlines for his plans to contruct makeshift hospital rooms across the country as the Nation prepares for an onslaught of COVID-19 patients. On Monday, Semonite turned to the Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) in Vicksburg to ask for help accomplishing that mission. Within an hour of the initial phone call, the ERDC Directorate of Public Works (DPW) staff had gathered and begun preparing to build two types of mock-up hospital rooms.
2:33
ERDC prototypes makeshift hospital rooms
Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite has made headlines for his plans to construct makeshift hospital rooms across the country as the Nation prepares for an onslaught of COVID-19 patients. On Monday, Semonite turned to the Engineer Research and Devleopment Center (ERDC) in Vicksburg to ask for help accomplishing that mission. Within an hour of the initial phone call, the ERDC Directorate of Public Works (DPW) staff had gathered and begun preparing to build two types of mock-up hospital rooms.
8:32
Furthering PFAS Research Through Collaboration
A challenging problem facing our military is the impact caused by aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) that has been used to control aviation fires at military bases since the 1970s. It contains a substance called PFAS, which has been discovered at hundreds of installations around the world, and Department of Defense leadership has committed to further studying the issue. In support of the Department of Defense, ERDC is leading a collaborative effort to bring experts together from government and industry to address the legacy issues of PFAS, and subsequent replacement compounds, as they seek out cost-effective and environmentally protective solutions.
6:35
ERDC EcoMapper
The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center's Fish Ecology Team in Vicksburg, Mississippi, is using new technology, an autonomous underwater vehicle, in a study of the value of borrow pits in the active floodplain of the Lower Mississippi River. The team is matching the water quality data it collects with the EcoMapper with fish sampling to determine the relative value of borrow pits, which make up more than 40 percent of aquatic habitat in the floodplain.
0:44
ERDC develops an amphibious robotic platform for dam inspections
The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center's Flood and Coastal System Research and Development Program develops an amphibious robotic platform for dam inspections.
4:06
Engineering the Theater to Win During Multi-Domain Operations – Anywhere, Anytime
75 years ago ERDC delivered innovative ways to support the war effort across multiple domains during D-Day. The contest on land, at sea, and in the air - despite the passing of three-quarters of a century - provided valuable lessons for the future of multi-domain operations. It illustrated the need to balance offensive striking power with operational reach. ERDC’s multi-lab, cross-functioning capability teams are engineering solutions to succeed in the MDO battlespace – anywhere, anytime.
2:07
Protecting Coastlines by Quantifying Sediment Transport in Submerged Canopies
Wetlands are a valuable natural feature that protect coastlines, and are in danger of disappearing. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is beneficially using dredged sediment to nourish existing wetlands, but there is a limited understanding of the hydrodynamics in submerged canopies, such as underwater vegetation, commonly found nearby. To address that knowledge gap, ERDC researchers conducted a unique two-phase experiment using more than 14,000 wooden dowels to create a 73-foot long submerged canopy in a wave flume. They measured the hydrodynamics at numerous locations and placed sediment adjacent to the canopy to quantify its transport rate and direction. Their research will ultimately lead to healthier wetlands and increased protection along our coasts.