Civil Works R&D Value to the Nation, 2021 Edition

CIVIL WORKS

R&D Va l u e t o the Nation 2021 Edition

MISSISSIPPI RIVER BRIDGE VICKSBURG, MS

FOREWORD Since June 16, 1775, when the first chief engineer was appointed, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been engineering solutions to solve our nation’s toughest challenges.

The organization’s impact on our country’s Civil Works foundation has been profound.

For nearly 250 years, USACE has developed waterways, maintained navigation channels, helped protect our nation’s water resources, and provided support to our federal and state emergency management partners.

Today, the USACE Civil Works program includes flood risk management, navigation, recreation, environmental stewardship, emergency response and hydropower production.

And while these missions remain as critical as ever, they require constant innovation to meet the rapidly changing needs of modern society.

The world is changing rapidly, and USACE is keeping pace with ever-accelerating scientific and technological advances, the demands of aging infrastructure, and the environmental challenges that these times present.

Given the breadth of challenges we face, USACE’s world-class research and development mission is crucial to our long-term viability. USACE R&D organizations, such as the Engineer Research and Development Center, as well as talented engineers and scientists in our Institute for Water Resources and divisions and districts, continue to discover,

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develop and deliver the innovative technologies and advanced capabilities needed to solve today’s challenges and prepare for tomorrow’s needs.

For example, USACE is quantifying and adapting to climate change and applying innovative concepts such as Engineering With Nature® (EWN) while balancing national priorities such as economic security, environmental health, social well-being and public safety. Our partners, including multiple federal agencies, academic, non-governmental, and international collaborators, are key to achieving these goals. USACE realizes that the work we do is amplified a thousand-fold through our partnerships with organizations and agencies around the globe.

USACE is using programs like EWN to empower a new generation of engineers and scientists to think of new and unexpected ways to conquer these challenges that are larger than one organization. Together, we can create solutions that deliver exceptional quality on time and on budget.

WILLIAM (BUTCH) H. GRAHAM JR. Major General, USA Deputy Commanding General for Civil and Emergency Operations

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CIVIL WORKS R&D: VALUE TO THE NATION Ta b l e o f C o n t e n t s

Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Strategic Focus Areas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Value to the Nation Highlights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Engineering With Nature®

Expanding Networks, Partnerships and Communications . . . . . . . . 12

Creation and Restoration of Coastal Islands

via Engineering With Nature® . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Increasing Coastal Resilience at Tyndall Air Force Base

via Engineering With Nature® . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Mangroves for Coastal Risk Reduction

via Engineering With Nature® . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Wind Tunnel for Coastal Dune Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Collaborative Conservation Plans for Ecosystem Restoration . . . . . 22

Wetland Nourishment via Sediment Distribution Pipe . . . . . . . . . . . 24

HABITATS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

General Pacific Northwest Salmonid Model Certification . . . . . . . . 28

Post-Wildfire Flood Risk Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Forecast-Informed Reservoir Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Comprehensive Framework to

Efficiently Simulate Compound Coastal and Inland Flooding . . . . . 34

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USACE Volume Change Toolbox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 HEC-WAT for Watershed Risk Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 HEC-RAS Sediment Transport Advancements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 FUNWAVE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 ERDC’s Field Research Facility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 iFLOOD Citizen Science to Improve Flooding Predictions . . . . . . . 46 UAS for Coastal Storm Risk Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48 Miniature Wave Buoys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 ERDC and NOAA’s NWC Collaborate on Research Studies . . . . . . 52 Robotic Assessment of Closure Gates for Safe Entry (Dambot) . . . 54 Sand Boil Flood Control Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Load and Resistance Factor Design for Concrete Hydraulic Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Ship Waves and Effects on Adjacent Shorelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 COVID-19 Data Analytics Modeling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

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STRATEGIC FOCUS AREAS

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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Civil Works missions are critical in generating near- and long-term benefits for serving our communities, supporting and growing our economy, creating jobs, and enhancing broader societal impacts, such as improved public health, national security, resiliency, recreation and tourism. Within USACE, we are faced with challenges, including climate change, that impact our aging water resources infrastructure and Civil Works missions; a desire to promote environmental sustainability, including enhancing ecosystems for threatened and endangered species and reducing spread of invasive species; and a need to improve public health and community resilience with reliable water resource infrastructure, including nature-based systems.

In 2020, USACE leaders endorsed six Strategic Focus Areas (SFAs) to address the organization’s unique grand challenges while requiring significant innovations that integrate advancements in USACE Civil Works missions. SFAs are long-range priorities, identified and adopted by USACE leadership, as priorities for innovation and solutions to problems impacting USACE Civil Works mission delivery now and into the future.

Multi-agency, academic and organizational collaborations and partnerships are key to achieving these critical advancements.

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USACE CIVIL WORKS STRATEGIC FOCUS AREAS: 1) NEXTGEN WATER RESOURCES INFRASTRUCTURE: Years of deferred construction and maintenance have created backlogs approaching $200 billion. Maintaining and replacing aging infrastructure requires transformative technologies that enable more cost-effective, resilient and reliable solutions within a changing climate, including ultradurable and rapid construction materials and processes, models that predict performance and optimize maintenance, and autonomous inspection techniques.

2) SUSTAINABLE SPECIES MANAGEMENT: The USACE spends approximately $400 million each year to manage invasive and nuisance species, such as Harmful Algal Blooms and Invasive Carp, and foster endangered species, such as the Interior Least Tern and Pallid Sturgeon. Advanced technologies and strategies are needed to prevent, detect and manage a diverse range of species for environmental sustainability. Applying technologies such as sensors, unmanned aerial systems, data analytics and modeling tools, while also prioritizing interagency collaboration, can enable improved stewardship of local ecosystems.

3) INNOVATION IN SEDIMENT MANAGEMENT: Leap-ahead construction and operation technologies are needed to reduce USACE dredging costs that currently exceed $1 billion annually, and enhance environmental sustainability through strategic placement of dredged sediments. Next-generation sensors, advanced modeling and increased publicprivate partnerships carry the potential to spark greater efficiencies. Meanwhile, dredged sediment must be strategically placed using Engineering With Nature® principles to deliver environmental and social benefits toward environmental sustainability, such as healthier wetlands, flood risk reduction, and more sustainable river and coastal shorelines and habitats. Partnering is essential to achieve these goals.

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4) COMPREHENSIVE HYDRO-TERRESTRIAL RISK MANAGEMENT: The cost of U.S. inland and coastal flood damage has increased 10-fold over the past 40 years, from $5 billion to $50 billion annually. To most effectively manage this growing risk within a changing climate, USACE needs a common operating framework that evaluates comprehensive flood hazards on a continental scale. This framework will incorporate nextgeneration remote and space-based observations; advanced numerical modeling methods that analyze the interaction of atmospheric, inland and coastal processes; and the ability to integrate simulation and observation data using machine learning and artificial intelligence.

This framework can evaluate lifecycle performance of water resource systems, including nature-based features and traditional infrastructure solutions, and improve arid region forecasting and post-crisis impacts.

5) CRISIS MITIGATION RESPONSE AND RECOVERY: In 2017 alone, USACE supported 59 major disaster declarations. As natural and man-made hazards continue to grow, planners need proactive tools to evaluate how infrastructure will perform during extreme conditions, to understand compound threats, and to identify vulnerabilities and potential cascading failures. Meanwhile, first responders and emergency managers need artificial intelligence capabilities to rapidly collect and analyze data from multiple sources to support decisions. Frameworks must allow for greater integration of data and broad communication across agencies and partners with advanced mobile reconnaissance solutions and supply chain logistics.

6) INNOVATIVE APPLICATIONS OF BIG DATA ANALYTICS, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, AND AUTONOMY: Solving the most complex Civil Works problems requires leap-ahead capabilities, such as machine learning and artificial intelligence, to enable rapid risk-informed decision-making. This area will combine sensor data with big data analytics, integrate disparate models, and enable trade-space analytics to optimize designs and operations. The result will be a dashboard to evaluate impacts of alternatives, and a “systems-of-systems” approach to evaluate benefits across USACE’s complex water resource missions.

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VALUE TO THE NATION HIGHLIGHTS

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PROBLEM

Conventional infrastructure has traditionally been utilized for improving resilience of water resource systems. However, this approach to infrastructure typically results in a one-dimensional product that achieves a basic purpose with little environmental or social benefits and constrained potential for longterm adaptation. Moreover, conventional infrastructure solutions can create adverse environmental consequences when constructed in natural systems.

SOLUTION

OVER

$10 BILLION

NATURE-BASED VALUE CREATED BY 2035

USACE’s EWN has emphasized partnerships, collaboration and communication as part of its mission.

Products like the EWN Atlas Volumes 1 & 2 and the EWN podcast are advancing nature-based solutions and opportunities for incorporating natural infrastructure by increasing visibility – making these features more readily known and appreciated by practitioners and the public. The launch of the N-EWN has also increased academic engagement and availability of best practices and academic courses for the next generation of scientists, engineers, landscape architects and others.

IMPACT

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EWN partnerships and products expand communications and focus attention on opportunities to integrate natural infrastructure and nature-based strategies into future infrastructure needs and solutions. In doing so, our efforts support the growth and expansion of natural infrastructure in the U.S., which is currently estimated at $40 billion per year. Internationally, EWN’s network, collaborations and communications are establishing natural infrastructure as a larger percentage of the $3.7 trillion per year needed in global infrastructure.

ENGINEERING WITH NATURE®

EXPANDING NETWORKS, PARTNERSHIPS AND COMMUNICATIONS

USACE’s Engineering With Nature (EWN) is advancing partnerships and expanding communications to enhance environmental sustainability through several initiatives.

Launch of the Network for Engineering With Nature (N-EWN), a clearinghouse to provide outreach to researchers and practitioners from the public and private sectors interested in nature-based solutions, occurred in fall 2020 to accelerate delivery of nature-based solutions and natural infrastructure in the public and private sectors. Founding members of N-EWN include USACE and the University of Georgia’s Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems. The network is attracting a diverse number of private sector, academic and nongovernmental organizations that are eager to join and pursue collaborative opportunities to advance nature-based strategies and natural infrastructure solutions. Publications such as “EWN: An Atlas” Volumes 1 and 2 and the EWN podcast are also communicating the value and importance of natural infrastructure as part of a more holistic approach to creating resilience for communities, as well as within the environmental systems in which they are constructed. For more information about EWN, visit www.engineeringwithnature.org. To learn more about N-EWN, visit www.n-ewn.org.

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PROBLEM

Nationally, only about 30% of sediments derived from maintenance dredging activities is retained in their systems of origin. The remainder is placed in upland areas and/or removed from the natural system.

Depletion of this resource contributes to the loss of existing natural features, such as wetlands, mudflats and coastal islands throughout the North Atlantic, Mid-Atlantic, Great Lakes and Gulf of Mexico regions of the U.S.

$33 ESTIMATED

BILLION

SOLUTION

Establishing benefits achieved through island creation and restoration is critical to advancing practice and increasing construction of these projects. Data derived from the Swan Island investigation will be used to quantify multiple benefits and produce models that aid practitioners in realizing and communicating the value of created and restored islands.

IMPACT

Regionally, increasing the number of islands in the Chesapeake Bay strengthens and supports the fishing and tourism industries, which generate economic and recreational benefits estimated at $33 billion a year. Constructed islands offer additional storm and flood risk reduction measures that would potentially reduce property damage in the Chesapeake Bay area by more than $20 million per storm event. Nationally, increasing the quantity of dredged sediment used for island creation and restoration would save more than $500 million a year in future placement of dredged sediments.

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ECONOMIC AND RECREATIONAL BENEFITS GENERATED PER YEAR

CREATION AND RESTORATION OF COASTAL ISLANDS VIA ENGINEERING WITH NATURE®

Creation and restoration of coastal islands represent an important method for keeping sediment resources in a system, and several Engineering With Nature (EWN) outcomes can be achieved when sediments are strategically placed in a way that results in the formation of these features. Beneficial outcomes include storm-risk reduction, increased availability and diversity of wildlife habitat, improved ecosystem function, and expanded opportunities for recreation. To advance this practice of coastal island construction, ERDC is working with the USACE Baltimore District, NOAA National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Martin National Wildlife Refuge and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to more fully understand the performance of Swan Island, Maryland. In 2019, Baltimore District beneficially placed approximately 60,000 yards of sediment on the island and subsequently planted the area with 200,000 plants. The research project is addressing performance uncertainties, which are often cited as a barrier to implementation. The island’s effectiveness at reducing wave energy to adjacent island communities and wildlife habitats is of interest, given competing factors in the Chesapeake Bay, such as subsidence, sea level rise and sediment loss.

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INCREASING COASTAL RESILIENCE AT TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE VIA ENGINEERING WITH NATURE®

In October 2018, Tyndall Air Force Base (AFB), located just east of Panama City, Florida, was directly hit by Hurricane Michael, a Category 5 hurricane. The damage was significant, with more than half the buildings on the base destroyed. Presently, the base is undergoing a massive rebuilding effort estimated at $5 billion. The team undertaking this groundbreaking work is incorporating the principles and practices of Engineering With Nature (EWN) into the Tyndall rebuild and the U.S. Air Force’s Installation of the Future initiative. The Air Force, with the support of EWN, intends to create a resilient and sustainable base that will be a model for the region and potentially all other coastal areas in the U.S. With practically a clean slate available to explore options, the team is afforded an opportunity to fundamentally rethink which environmental and operational functions will improve resiliency of Tyndall AFB now and in the future.

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PROBLEM

Tyndall AFB is vulnerable to extreme weather that can produce high winds, extensive rainfall and storm surges from the Gulf of Mexico. Storm surges can generate high water levels capable of inundating low-lying parts of the base on both the East Bay and the Gulf sides. These risks are expected to increase over time as sea levels rise and storms continue to intensify with changing climate.

SOLUTION

With EWN applications informing the approach to resilience, four pilot projects have been proposed for use in evaluating a range of naturebased solutions that will help reduce coastal flood risks and erosion while enhancing the natural environment. Information about the Tyndall AFB rebuild can be found in a podcast hosted on the EWN website at https://ewndev.el.erdc.dren.mil/podcast-003.html

$1

$6 IN MITIGATION SAVES

IN DAMAGES

IMPACT

Incorporating EWN into the approximately $5 billion rebuild at Tyndall AFB is creating multiple lines of defense against future storms, thereby increasing resilience for this important military asset. In addition, the nature-based solutions create co-benefits, including wildlife habitats for threatened and endangered species and recreational opportunities for the Warfighters stationed at the base.

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MANGROVES FOR COASTAL RISK REDUCTION VIA ENGINEERING WITH NATURE®

Natural features such as mangrove trees and forests can provide shoreline protection with their root systems, which trap sediments and sand, helping prevent shoreline erosion. During extreme weather events, these plant systems dampen waves and currents and serve to hold shore sediments in place.

In turn, impacts to interior areas can be reduced.

These ecosystems provide other environmental services, such as storing carbon and providing habitat for fish. Field investigations have documented wave and surge attenuation by coastal mangrove ecosystems. However, these studies generally focus on low-energy environments or rely on post-hoc observations following storms, leading to limited measured data supporting the flood risk reduction benefits during extreme events. To better understand performance, the Engineering With Nature (EWN) initiative is using laboratory and other systems that offer controlled environments for systematically assessing the contribution of mangroves to coastal storm risk reduction.

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PROBLEM

Loss of mangrove habitats contributes to increasing coastal risk, particularly in coastal areas with large and/or vulnerable populations. Quantifying the value of mangroves as natural coastal defenses is crucial to ensuring their preservation and restoration, as these natural features increase the resilience of coastal communities and create environmental and societal benefits.

REDUCES FLOOD DAMAGES BY

$60 BILLION

SOLUTION

EWN researchers at ERDC and the U.S. Naval Academy have built large-scale physical models that will provide more insight specific to wave reduction attributed to mangrove forests. These models will inform robust design guidance for USACE districts, coastal managers, community planners, coastal waterfront property owners and other coastal stakeholders interested in using natural systems for coastal resilience.

IMPACT

Outcomes from this EWN study will advance and prioritize use of mangroves for increasing resilience of coastal communities. Globally, mangroves reduce annual expected flood damages from tropical cyclones and hurricanes by $60 billion and protect 14 million people. If mangrove forests are lost, property losses produced by 1-in-100-year flood events would increase by as much as 37 million people and $270 billion.

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PROBLEM

THE USCRP’S WIND TUNNEL HAS SUPPORTED:

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GRADUATE STUDENTS FROM 3 UNIVERSITIES SCIENCE FAIR COMPETITIONS 2 OF WHICH WON LOCAL AND REGIONAL COMPETITIONS

The underlying feedbacks between plant morphology and density and foredune formation and growth are difficult to study in the field. Management efforts to build or recover dunes generally include dune vegetation to trap and stabilize sand, but there is a lack of understanding of which plant type, density and morphology are most beneficial in trapping sand and stabilizing dunes.

SOLUTION

A wind tunnel was constructed with support from the USCRP to evaluate dynamic dune-plant systems in a controlled environment. The wind tunnel lab, built to test theories surrounding foredune-vegetation feedbacks, provided additional benefits. With broad outreach at conferences, local schools and in academia, the wind tunnel is a tool to support additional young scientists and leaders of tomorrow across disciplines. The initial research provided species-specific data for designing foredune plantings and beach management and can be used to quantify the effect of vegetation in models of foredune evolution.

IMPACT

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The initial research uncovered important relationships between plant shape, density and configuration to inform models, beach management and planting efforts, such as demonstrating that a staggered planting configuration reduces the time required for foredune formation. To date, the wind tunnel has supported dissertation research of five graduate students from three universities. The tunnel has supported six independent science fair projects, two of which have won local and regional competitions. It continues to be used to support USACE coastal research initiatives.

WIND TUNNEL FOR COASTAL DUNE RESEARCH In 2016, the U.S. Coastal Research Program (USCRP), a multi-agency, academic, nongovernmental partnership that is co-led by USACE, supported academic research to develop a wind tunnel in New Jersey to study coastal dunes and their interaction with vegetation. The wind tunnel tests how the shape, density and configuration of coastal dune vegetation influences formation size and shape of the dune closest to the water – the foredune. Plants are ecosystem engineers in these habitats and foredunes are the first line of defense during storms. By first understanding the plant-topography feedbacks involved in foredune development, USACE can more effectively forecast habitat evolution and recovery. Construction of the wind tunnel was a community project in which more than 20 local and national sponsors donated time and resources to broaden its capabilities. The initially proposed research at the wind tunnel was aided by local high school students who continued to use the wind tunnel for science fair projects. Given its success, the wind tunnel received additional USACE funding to further expand its use as a stand-alone laboratory associated with ERDC. Research continues at the tunnel, supporting local and graduate students across the country.

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PROBLEM

The Pallid Sturgeon inhabits the Missouri-Mississippi River drainage basin. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) indicated in several biological opinions that USACE would need to change its operations on flood risk reduction and navigation projects in the upper basin in order to comply with the ESA. However, little was known about the status and trends of the Pallid Sturgeon in the lower Mississippi River. One of the largest ongoing civil works programs in USACE, operation and maintenance of the MR&T could be impacted by those opinions.

SOLUTION

Initially funded by the Ecosystem Management and Restoration Research Program and later by the Mississippi Valley Division (MVD), USACE began a systematic evaluation of the status and trends of Pallid Sturgeon in the 1,000-mile LMR and published a conservation plan in collaboration with USFWS. The plan outlined MVD’s commitment to protect species integrity, restore habitat complexity, and conserve important habitats on our nation’s largest river.

IMPACT

The conservation plan transformed channel engineering from a threat to Pallid Sturgeon and other species into a primary tool for conservation by identifying restoration and conservation measures compatible with USACE missions. Conservation plan application improved trust and cooperation among agencies, states and non-governmental organizations and reduced USACE expenditures with demonstrated effectiveness.

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CONSERVATION PLAN USED AS A MODEL FOR COMPLIANCE

ESA

COLLABORATIVE CONSERVATION PLANS FOR ECOSYSTEM RESTORATION

In North America, all sturgeon species except the Lake Sturgeon are listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Because sturgeon live in main channels of rivers, they are vulnerable to the effects of flood control, navigation and hydroelectric projects. USACE activities in those areas require a Biological Opinion and a species conservation plan. The Pallid Sturgeon in the Lower Mississippi River (LMR) is an example of using a conservation plan to foster collaborative research and monitoring, applying restoration measures that have quantifiable benefits to the species and reducing overall cost of compliance with the ESA. Average annual expenditures to comply with ESA requirements are $0.5 million for the LMR, $2 million for the Middle Mississippi River and $10$70 million for the Missouri River. The conservation plan developed for Mississippi River and Tributaries (MR&T) channel improvement programs was used as a model for ESA compliance and will provide cost-savings for other USACE districts, thereby reducing future costs to comply with the ESA. 23

WETLAND NOURISHMENT VIA SEDIMENT DISTRIBUTION PIPE

An innovative Thin Layer Placement wetland nourishment technique has been tested at Sturgeon Island, New Jersey, as part of the Seven Mile Island Innovation Lab (SMIIL).

The Sediment Distribution Pipe is an inline separation method that separates sand from finer sediments (clay, silt) through hydraulic sorting, while the partially stratified slurry is being transported in the discharge pipeline of an operating hydraulic dredge.

This technique has the potential to significantly increase the beneficial use of dredged sediment by nourishing wetlands at lower costs and optimizing the engineering properties of directly placed sediment, efficiently placing sediment over larger areas while attaining more accurate target elevations, and reducing containment costs and construction-related damage to the wetlands.

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PROBLEM

Nourishing degraded wetlands with dredged sediment can strengthen the wetland against future losses from causes such as sea level rise, sediment budget deficit and other impacts.

Typical wetland nourishment practices use heavy equipment to move the end of a discharge pipe to achieve the appropriate elevation, which usually requires the dredge to temporarily shut down and can damage the susceptible marsh surfaces and reduce dredge production.

SOLUTION

The SMIIL wetland nourishment project demonstrated the Sediment Distribution Pipe effectively separates sand from finer sediments, distributes sediment over a larger area with less movement required for the pipe to attain target elevations, and facilitates retention of placed sediment.

$30K

IN POTENTIAL SAVINGS

IN CONTAINMENT COSTS ON A 1,500FT CONTAINMENT STRUCTURE

IMPACT

Using the Sediment Distribution Pipe for containment rather than traditional hay bales could reduce containment costs by at least half.

This saves approximately $30,000 on a 1,500 foot-long containment structure.

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HABITATS

The Harmful Algal Bloom Interception, Treatment and Transformation System (HABITATS) is a scalable technology in development to address harmful algal bloom (HAB) biomass through: • Interception and selective removal of algae from water at the highest concentrations using booms and skimmers. This process reduces the amount of water requiring treatment.

• Treatment of collected algae and water using dissolved air flotation to rapidly remove and concentrate the biomass. This process clarifies and oxidizes water to allow for safe discharge back into the environment and further concentrates the algae into a thick paste to minimize waste volumes.

• Transformation of algal biomass into oil and fertilizer using hydrothermal liquefaction. The liquefaction process recovers resources from concentrated algae while destroying potential toxins.

HABITATS reduced impacts of HAB events at three pilot scale demonstrations where 4,000 gallons of algae slurry were collected, resulting in 700,000 gallons of clean water.

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PROBLEM

Harmful algal blooms in our nation’s freshwater lakes and reservoirs impact USACE navigation, flood risk management, water supply and recreational missions. HAB events occur in lakes and waterways across the nation and have continued to increase since 2010. HABs impact recreation, real estate and commerce with costs totaling more than $3 billion per year. Current systems for physical removal of algae have limited scalability due to process economics and potential biomass toxicity.

IN THREE PILOT DEMOS:

4K GALLONS

ALGAE SLURRY COLLECTED

SOLUTION

HABITATS addresses management needs as a rapid response tool to reduce HAB impacts through interception, treatment and transformation of HAB biomass into usable resources.

$700K GALLONS

CLEAN WATER CREATED

IMPACT

The HABITATS process removes 95% of algae and phosphorus from water and destroys cyanotoxins that may be present. HABITATS has additional benefits over conventional physical or chemical methods in that it converts water to resources (fuel and fertilizer) and is energy neutral.

HABITATS can be scaled to treat 100 million gallons of water per day at similar long-term costs to chemical treatments that do not remove algae or nutrients, or 72% lower cost than conventional physical treatment.

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PROBLEM

Regional certified planning models pertaining to specific species are required for each project, but can be cost and time prohibitive under tight timelines set by Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Risk Informed, Timely (SMART) planning guidance. Finding efficiencies in the SMART planning process can be challenging and requires innovative planning and modeling approaches to include regionally certified planning models.

SOLUTION

The General Pacific Northwest Salmonid Model was developed and certified for use by the USACE Ecosystem Restoration Planning Center of Expertise to assist district planning efforts on water resource projects that may affect Salmonid fish species.

IMPACT

$4M

APPROX.

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PROJECTED SAVINGS PER YEAR OVER 10 YEARS

One regionally certified general model negates the need to develop different Salmonid models for planning projects, saving money and time. Projected savings are approximately $4 million over 10 years, based on the average cost of developing robust ecological models per new start planning studies for four districts.

GENERAL PACIFIC NORTHWEST SALMONID MODEL CERTIFICATION

USACE districts in the Pacific Northwest (Portland, Seattle, Walla Walla and Sacramento) were in critical need of a regionally certified planning model that could be used at multiple spatial scales and for a variety of project types. Current model applications were cost prohibitive, requiring the creation of a new Salmonid fish species model for each project.

One regionally certified general model negates the need to constantly develop different Salmonid models for planning projects, thus saving money and time. Use of the model is anticipated to be high because of the numerous projects USACE is involved with or is leading in the Pacific Northwest.

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PROBLEM

In 2020, more than 43,000 fires burned more than 7 million acres in the Western U.S. Wildfires increase the potential for post-wildfire floods, erosion, reduced channel capacity and massive debris flows.

However, previous methodologies lacked the ability to predict these risks, leaving firetorn communities particularly vulnerable to flooding.

SOLUTION

ERDC is developing new modeling techniques that accurately predict the areas at highest risk for deadly debris flows. This includes the ability to make predictions in the middle of a wildfire or to model potential future fire situations. This gives planners and emergency responders the information they need to mitigate these increased threats.

IMPACT

To date, ERDC has worked with roughly 30 communities, helping them to identify regions that are most vulnerable to post-wildfire impacts. The technology can also provide near real-time emergency management tools for evacuations. This allows communities to save lives, protect infrastructure and property, and better manage the impact of debris flows.

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8:1 ROI

FOR PRE-HAZARD MITIGATION CAPABILITY INVESTMENT

POST-WILDFIRE FLOOD RISK MANAGEMENT

The intensity and frequency of wildfires in the U.S. is increasing with changing climate, bringing immense devastation that is compounded by a lesser-known threat. Flood risks increase exponentially after a wildfire due to sediment hazards, vegetation loss, soil changes and the reduced capacity of reservoirs.

Destructive debris floods can be 1,000-times larger than pre-wildfire floods.

In the past, a limited understanding of the increased risk left fire-torn communities particularly vulnerable to flooding. USACE needs a fast and reliable method to assess the risks of wildfire impacts on flood risk management, as well as quantitative approaches to predict changes in streamflow and sediment runoff for planning and designing flood control measures.

USACE researchers have developed new modeling techniques that accurately predict the areas at highest risk for deadly debris flows. By incorporating nonNewtonian physics into existing modeling systems, this research has dramatically improved our ability to estimate risks, thus saving lives and improving the protection of infrastructure and property.

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FORECAST-INFORMED RESERVOIR OPERATIONS

Forecast-Informed Reservoir Operations (FIRO) is a research effort to simultaneously improve water supply, enhance flood risk reduction, and achieve additional ecosystem benefits. FIRO uses modern observation and prediction technology to provide water managers more lead time to selectively retain or release water from reservoirs based on longer-term forecasts. When storms cause moderate-to-high reservoir levels, normal operation is to release water to re-establish flood control space. A FIRO pilot study at Lake Mendocino in California demonstrated that water can be retained for future supply if no major precipitation is expected, and retained water can be released past downstream flood-prone areas prior to the arrival of the next storm. This strategy permits earlier supply capture in some years, improving summer season supply reliability for downstream water users and improving the timing and volume of releases to protect water quality and provide flows needed for fish population recovery. The pilot has also shown that using FIRO can decrease the potential for uncontrolled releases by signaling the need for preemptive releases ahead of an approaching storm. Optimizing reservoir operations in this fashion benefits water supply and environmental flows while improving flood risk and dam safety.

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PROBLEM

Atmospheric rivers drop up to half of California’s rainfall and cause 84% of floods, costing over $1 billion per year. California is prone to floods and drought with the highest variability in rainfall in the continental U.S. Water supply and ecologic concerns are driving issues in the region. The increased wildfire activity in the U.S. western states drives the need to better predict heavy rainfall events to anticipate debris flows.

SOLUTION

FIRO uses next generation weather/watershed modeling and monitoring to improve water level forecasts in reservoirs and waterways. By using FIRO, managers are informed in time to release or hold water in advance of storms or prolonged dry periods.

FIRO PILOT STUDY ENABLED WATER SUPPLY TO 22K ADDITIONAL HOMES IN SPRING 2020

IMPACT

The FIRO pilot study at Lake Mendocino enabled water supply to 22,000 additional homes in Spring 2020, the third driest year on record.

The benefits of using FIRO include improving water supply reliability and reducing flooding; resilience of water management infrastructure; and balancing flood risk, water supply and ecological benefits.

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ACCURATE ESTIMATES OF COMPOUND FLOODING HAZARDS – COMBINED COASTAL STORM SURGE, PRECIPITATION AND RIVERINE FLOW – REDUCE NATIONAL ECONOMIC AND HUMAN IMPACTS

PROBLEM

Compound flooding events can cost billions of dollars of damage. These events during Hurricane Harvey caused approximately $125 billion in damages; compound flooding events in the Mississippi River Basin caused damages in excess of $10 billion in lost agricultural product; and Hurricane Maria caused $95 billion in damages in the Florida/Puerto Rico regions. Tools are required to efficiently and accurately simulate the inundation impacts of these flood events so that stakeholders, policy makers and engineers can devise robust management strategies.

SOLUTION

Accurate and efficient inundation estimates from compound flood events require a robust framework that combines coastal surge, estuarine circulation, river hydraulics and overland hydrology numerical models. ERDC, in conjunction with the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is conducting research into various coupling mechanisms for these models.

IMPACT

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A greater level of accuracy and confidence in estimates to flood risk translates into billions of dollars in savings to the nation. These savings come from more precise engineering of flood protection systems, reducing construction costs from not over-engineering the system as well as property/ life/commerce losses due to under-engineered systems.

ERDC research will provide stakeholders and policy makers the engineering tools required to alleviate the economic and human costs of compound flooding events.

COMPREHENSIVE FRAMEWORK TO EFFICIENTLY SIMULATE COMPOUND COASTAL AND INLAND FLOODING

Coastal and inland areas around the world are at increased risk of flooding due to rising sea level, climate change and associated changes in precipitation magnitude and frequency. Historically, flooding due to storm surges, riverine flows and precipitation were investigated independently. However, recent hurricanes Maria, Irma, Sandy, Harvey and Dorian have shown that storm surges combined with precipitation and riverine flows can significantly exacerbate inland flooding. A compound flooding event is defined as (1) two or more extreme events occurring simultaneously or successively; (2) combinations of extreme events with underlying conditions that amplify the impact of the events; or (3) combinations of events that are not themselves extreme but lead to an extreme event or impact when combined.

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PROBLEM

The National Coastal Mapping Program was started in 2004 to provide regional 3D coastal data sets in support of RSM as part of coastal navigation, flood risk management and ecosystem restoration projects. At the time, there were few tools available to work with big, regional data in general, much less for the purpose of computing volume changes from repeat data sets for inclusion in regional sediment budgets.

SOLUTION

The USACE Volume Change Toolbox is a set of Python scripts that guide a user through the steps needed to compute elevation change, shoreline change and volume change above and below water in a systematic way for long stretches of coast – sometimes hundreds of miles. The toolbox operates in an ArcGIS environment and is semi-automated, which means that once a user has set up each step, it runs automatically through the input data sets to produce a result.

IMPACT

The USACE Volume Change Toolbox enables USACE engineers and scientists to produce elevation, shoreline and volume change from repeat regional 3D data sets using a nationally consistent RSM method and post-storm impact assessments. The toolbox is available to users external to USACE, and perhaps more importantly, toolbox results are available on the web for coastal practitioners to access in their day-to-day work.

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FASTER RESULTS

FOR FASTER DECISION MAKING

USACE VOLUME CHANGE TOOLBOX

The USACE Volume Change Toolbox standardizes computation of beach and nearshore volume change from 3D coastal datasets for sediment budgets and post-storm impact assessments. The National Coastal Mapping Program initially developed the toolbox to systematically compute volumes for long stretches of coast to develop regional sediment budgets. The Volume Change Toolbox was used to develop sediment budgets for the Coastal Texas Study and the Great Lakes Coastal Resiliency Study. As part of these projects, and with the Regional Sediment Management (RSM) Program, ERDC researchers linked toolbox outputs to the USACE Sediment Budget Analysis System through web services for faster regional sediment budget development. ERDC researchers have used the toolbox extensively to compute regional beach elevation change, shoreline change and volume change after hurricanes (Sandy, Matthew, Irma, Maria, Michael, Sally and Zeta) and after a strong winter storm season in New York in 2020. The Volume Change Toolbox has been transitioned to users in the USACE Mobile, Jacksonville and Buffalo Districts and researchers at the University of Puerto Rico are using the toolbox in their work. The toolbox was also designed to compute volumes from repeat airborne LiDAR data sets but is extensible to 3D data collected from drones and was adapted to work with beach profile data.

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HEC-WAT FOR WATERSHED RISK ANALYSIS

The Hydrologic Engineering Center’s Watershed Analysis Tool (HEC-WAT) supports evaluation of watershed-level risk analysis. The software tool helps fulfill the USACE Civil Works mission by evaluating the benefits provided by water resources projects.

HEC-WAT’s plugin architecture provides tools for existing software applications to work together in sequence to solve complex water resources problems. Investments in HEC-WAT are improving risk analysis, enabling distributed computing capabilities for more rapid calculations, and enhancing the software’s usability by district engineers and economists.

HEC-WAT has been used to evaluate stage frequency curves throughout a watershed with and without breaches, to analyze sediment changes across the lifecycle of a project, to create annual exceedance probability maps, and to compute expected annual losses at structures across a watershed. HEC-WAT is a flexible tool, capable of meeting multiple stakeholder needs.

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PROBLEM

USACE planning studies are required to perform a risk analysis for the watershed as a system. The current software to evaluate projects and perform analyses to justify government expenditure does not fully meet the requirements of evaluating the watershed as a system. USACE needed a tool to support all policy requirements for planning studies so that it can more easily accomplish its goals and mission.

SOLUTION

HEC-WAT evaluates the watershed as a system. By adding the option to compute Flood Risk Analysis, it meets policy risk analysis requirements. HEC-WAT’s distributed compute option enables USACE staff to use this powerful resource on a diverse range of projects of varying scopes.

ALLOWS USACE TO MEET ITS

PRIMARY MISSION

OF MANAGING THE NATION’S WATER RESOURCES IN A HOLISTIC AND COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH

IMPACT

HEC-WAT, with the distributed compute option, enabled the Columbia River Treaty team to analyze more than 20 years of compute time across 258,000 square miles of study area to prepare decision metrics for water resource management negotiations with Canada. It was also used for Ala-Wai in Honolulu, Hawaii to perform uncertainty analysis for a typical planning study on 16 square miles.

Project compute time was less than one day and helped the team meet critical milestones.

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HEC-RAS SEDIMENT TRANSPORT ADVANCEMENTS

Most USACE riverine flood risk management projects use the Hydrologic Engineering Center’s River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) to analyze water level response to project alternatives. HEC-RAS is the industry standard hydraulic model outside USACE, with more than 100,000 users in more than 200 countries; however river channels are not static hydraulic systems. They move, erode and deposit sediment in ways that often affect project benefits and objectives. This research improved the sediment transport capabilities in the two-dimensional HECRAS. Now projects across USACE business lines (including flood risk management, navigation, reservoir management and ecosystem restoration) can leverage existing hydraulic models and expertise to analyze sediment-related failure modes.

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PROBLEM

Erosion and deposition can eliminate or reduce the benefits gained from flood risk management or, more seriously, lead to catastrophic project failure. It is critical to analyze these sediment failure modes as part of our standard practice.

However, these analyses are not easy and are often omitted from the feasibility analysis.

SOLUTION

Making sediment analyses more efficient and accessible will help fit critical failure mode analyses into expedited project formulation timelines. Almost all USACE river engineering projects develop a HEC-RAS model for hydraulic analysis. Adding one- and two-dimensional sediment transport analyses to HEC-RAS makes these analyses available in the modeling framework the district already applies to the project and leverages the model development included in almost all flood risk management feasibility studies.

IMPACT

OVER

100K USERS

IN 200+ COUNTRIES

This work saves analyst effort by making sediment transport an incremental addition to standard hydraulic models.

Additionally, by making sediment analysis easier and more accessible, USACE is likely to avoid sediment-related failure modes (or loss of benefits). By making higher fidelity modeling methods faster and more accessible, USACE engineers can evaluate a broader range of alternatives and find lower-cost, higher-benefit solutions than they would otherwise have available to them.

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PROBLEM

USACE has a pressing need for a robust, open source and computationally efficient numerical wave model to represent complex wave processes. The complexity of setting up such a model was generally beyond the normal USACE scope of expertise and available resources and the required detailed calculations limited applications.

RAPID SCREENING OF DESIGN ALTERNATIVES FOR

EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE

DECISION-MAKING UNDER ENVIRONMENTAL UNCERTAINTY

SOLUTION

The FUNWAVE numerical tool is an open-source community model selected as a foundation for modeling complex nearshore wave processes.

Outside of resolving basic nearshore processes, additional modules were added to FUNWAVE to create a robust and computationally efficient numerical framework.

IMPACT

Immediate benefits of this technology are being realized on multiple coastal risk management projects across USACE. Recent projects include accurate and efficient applications to harbor and marina infrastructure (Alaska District, Buffalo District), inundation mapping – overland propagation and runup (Galveston District, Detroit District), partially reflecting/absorbing protective structures and basic fluidstructure interactions (Baltimore District, Los Angeles District), and nearshore storm flooding with long infragravity wave influence on reefs (Jacksonville District, Honolulu District).

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FUNWAVE Modeling wave processes in nearshore regions with harbors and marinas and as propagating over natural features, such as sand bars and reefs, requires efficient and accurate computing of complex wave-wave, wave-current and wave-structure interactions. Most models commonly used for describing these complex wave processes are far from complete and rely on ad hoc methods for describing the physical processes.

USACE research has spurred innovation in bringing the open-source FUNWAVE model into the operational realm for USACE and the Department of Defense. ERDC developed and validated new capabilities and modules against collected laboratory and field data.

The new model has led to significant advancements by offering high-fidelity modeling of coastal processes, which were often left unresolved and poorly quantified in the past.

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PROBLEM

Large coastal storms annually cost the U.S. billions of dollars in damages and lost productivity. Predicting storm impacts and developing resilient infrastructure require a thorough understanding of how storms affect an ever-changing coastline.

The impact of a given storm is determined by storm intensity, duration and path, as well as the state of the coast at the time of landfall. Capturing and understanding this complicated interaction requires a diverse and long-term data set collected in extreme conditions.

SOLUTION

The ERDC FRF uses specialized equipment and decades of experience to study oceanographic conditions and morphological impacts of extreme storms. As a continually operating coastal observatory, the FRF has captured every storm that has hit the North Carolina coast in the past 40 years. Additionally, the FRF’s long-term data collection infrastructure has made it an ideal site for numerous targeted scientific experiments investigating coastal processes.

IMPACT

Data collected by or with assistance from the FRF has provided the scientific community with a foundation for understanding and investigating nearshore coastal processes and storm impacts. FRF data, support or staff have contributed to more than 1,000 scientific publications to date. Decades of investment in this one-of-a-kind facility have enabled scientific breakthroughs and predictive models and have fostered a community of scientists tackling coastal changes.

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FRF is the most studied beach in the world, and has HOSTED 10+ LARGE, MULTI-INVESTIGATOR (100+) EXPERIMENTS CONTRIBUTED DATA AND/ OR SUPPORT TO 1000+ PUBLICATIONS PROVIDED DATA USED IN 84 GRADUATE THESES OR DISSERTATIONS

ERDC’S FIELD RESEARCH FACILITY

Every year, large storms such as hurricanes and Nor’easters impact the U.S. coastline, damaging infrastructure and impacting communities.

Understanding and predicting the impacts of diverse storm scenarios requires an extensive body of data to capture enough of these episodic events to understand the complicated interaction between storms and existing coastal morphology. Additionally, making the relevant measurements to acquire these data necessitates instrumentation to not only be in the path of the storm but also to survive the storm so data can be retrieved. Since 1977, ERDC’s Field Research Facility (FRF) in Duck, North Carolina, has developed and implemented methods to safely and thoroughly measure large storm impacts on a sandy coast. The FRF is world-renowned for its team of scientists and technicians who have maintained in situ (waves, currents, winds, rain) and remotely sensed data collections (video and LiDAR) during storms, as well as measurements of the beach and nearshore sand elevations immediately before and after storms. These expansive observations are invaluable to the global research community and today the FRF is considered the best location in the world to test new coastal technologies, evaluate scientific theories and develop engineering models.

In its 40-year existence, the FRF coastal observatory has become a national science and engineering asset.

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iFLOOD CITIZEN SCIENCE TO IMPROVE FLOODING PREDICTIONS

Coastal flooding of low-lying coastal communities and roadways can cause road closures and property damage. Efforts to improve resilience for these communities and their critical evacuation routes are hampered by lack of knowledge about processes contributing to flooding, which results from interactions between rainfall, ocean waves and surge, and high groundwater levels. The iFlood application is being developed and demonstrated through a partnership between the U.S. Coastal Research Program, researchers at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the towns of Nags Head and Duck, North Carolina. iFlood app users improve flooding predictions through citizen-scientist reports that provide the location and timing of flooding events to evaluate and improve a model for multi-hazard flooding, and to help towns manage flooding hazards.

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PROBLEM

Coastal communities are susceptible to devastating environmental and economic impacts from flooding events.

During storms, groundwater can cause flooding if the water table exceeds the land surface, but groundwater processes typically are not included in flood hazard mapping or management. Developing flood predictions that integrate oceanographic, meteorological and hydrogeological processes is a key research need for managing storm hazards and impacts.

SOLUTION

Multi-year observations of groundwater heads collected across the Outer Banks near Duck, North Carolina, were used with measurements of ocean tides, surge, waves and precipitation collected by ERDC’s Field Research Facility. From this, researchers developed an analytical model to predict groundwater levels, including the timing and location of groundwater-driven flooding.

A citizen science phone application, iFlood, was developed to obtain flood reports to validate the groundwater flooding model across a more than 40-mile stretch of the Outer Banks and to provide information for town managers.

COASTAL MANAGERS CAN

BETTER ASSESS EFFECTIVENESS

OF DIFFERENT FLOOD MITIGATION STRATEGIES

IMPACT

The analytical model provides a simple, efficient framework to predict flooding risk along the ocean-side of the Outer Banks. iFlood has increased community awareness of flooding hazards and strengthened engagement between the community, town managers and scientists. The model predicts a flooding event consistent with the timing and location for 70% of the oceanside iFlood reports. iFlood has also helped town managers identify regions in their communities with recurring flooding issues. By understanding the processes that contribute to flooding, coastal managers can better assess the effectiveness of different flood mitigation strategies.

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UAS FOR COASTAL STORM RISK MANAGEMENT

Static infrastructure combined with dynamic coastal landscapes create navigation, flooding and environmental management challenges that are exacerbated by coastal hazards. USACE requires efficient tools to observe coastal environments, where frequent surveys are necessary to accurately characterize coastal change and to inform coastal storm risk management activities. Due to its cost-effectiveness and ease of use, Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) deployment has become an increasingly popular tool for capturing high-resolution aerial imagery for small-scale environments. Many UAS applications use photogrammetric algorithms to generate surveygrade, 3D topographic point clouds and digital surface models from acquired imagery. These recent advancements in UAS-based technologies have the potential to be effective for several coastal applications, ranging from land cover analysis to mapping beach elevation and surf zone bathymetry.

UAS technology enables substantial improvements to how, and how often, the USACE collects, processes and exploits geospatial products for a variety of coastal management applications.

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PROBLEM

Pre-storm surveys informing rehabilitation of federal beach projects and coastal environments are often out of date, and the true impact of the storm cannot be isolated from background trends.

Without accurate, quantitative and efficient assessment technologies, USACE engineers are left with inadequate information to plan for and assess damages from coastal hazards.

SOLUTION

UAS

PROVIDES

SURVEY-GRADE BEACH CONDITION DATA AT REDUCED COSTS

This research identified and developed new solutions to use UAS to quantify the coastal environment and explored the cost and benefits of deploying different UAS platforms. Specifically, ERDC transitioned the UAS capability to rapidly measure surf-zone bathymetry and beach topography at USACE project sites to better quantify uncertainty before and after storms, and to use these data products to provide best estimates of flood risk management parameters from USACE numerical models.

IMPACT

UAS surveys can rapidly and frequently provide more accurate coastal environment data at reduced costs compared to traditional on-the-ground approaches. If even one rehabilitation project can be avoided through improved planning and storm assessment data, the nation could save at minimum $2 million in dredge mobilization costs.

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PROBLEM

Coastal engineering studies and projects often require sea wave monitoring. Traditionally, deploying wave monitoring devices has required expensive and risky installment of acoustic sensors in shallow water, or even more expensive deployment of bulky buoys in deep water. Depending on the project, wave monitoring can be prohibitively expensive.

SOLUTION

A new generation of very small, inexpensive and light buoys are now available. They are easy to deploy and can report data in near real time. Upon retrieval, the full data set is available for advanced analysis.

IMPACT

Miniature wave buoys will collect wave data where it was not previously feasible due to cost constraints or deployment requirements.

More data means better engineered projects.

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MINIATURE WAVE BUOYS

A new generation of miniature wave buoys has emerged that are lighter, cheaper and more easily deployed, potentially useful for monitoring an engineering project or for rapid response to a storm event. ERDC is currently evaluating mini buoy technologies for the quality of their data and to better understand their suitability to various applications. Evaluation consists of comparing data from several miniature buoys to state-of-the-art wave measurements at the Field Research Facility in Duck, North Carolina. Miniature buoys can potentially save money over traditional technologies and provide observations where they were not previously feasible.

INCREASED DATA FOR

BETTER ENGINEERED PROJECTS

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PROBLEM

Federal agency missions often complement each other, but collaborative research toward common goals can be difficult because of internal funding constraints, priorities and timelines. Common needs include numerical models and methods, sources of validation data, training and guidance. In reference to water resources in complex coastal regions, optimized physics and model coupling are needed for coastal and inland flood models.

SOLUTION

COLLABORATION IMPROVES: FLOOD PROTECTION STRUCTURE DESIGN SOCIO-ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS IN COMMUNICATING RISK KNOWLEDGE ADVANCEMENT

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Researchers at ERDC and the NWC worked together to find solutions to the nation’s water issues by collaborating on innovative methods and supporting data sets. Results were tested on common applications to validate approaches and deliver solutions. For example, the Adaptive Hydraulics Model (AdH) system was tested on Delaware Bay and provided accurate results that compared well to observations.

Thus, the NWC created an AdH model that covers the entire U.S. East Coast.

IMPACT

The work collectively produced by this effort is providing guidance on how to approach the technical and operational dimensions of model coupling.

Numerous models have been shared between the organizations, including the National Water Model, the ADvanced CIRCulation model, AdH and Streamflow Prediction Tool. The model results will be used to save lives and property in coastal zones impacted by compound flooding during tropical events.

ERDC AND NOAA’S NWC COLLABORATE ON RESEARCH STUDIES

ERDC and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Water Center (NWC) have common interests in hydrology, hydraulics and coastal processes.

By leveraging other federal agencies, such as the U.S. Geological Survey, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and USACE district and division offices, the NWC and ERDC can make rapid innovations in advancing the science of next-generation water models. The NWC’s strengths in operational forecasting and development of the National Water Model complement ERDC’s strengths in high-fidelity modeling and coastal modeling expertise.

Collaborative research includes rapidly improving existing hydrologic and coastal technologies and providing more proactive and reliable emergency response to natural hazards in the U.S. and internationally. Researchers have examined numerous methods to couple inland and coastal models both inside and outside the continental U.S. This research builds off ERDC’s existing tools and current knowledge base.

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PROBLEM

USACE has a portfolio of more than 700 dams, many of which are beyond or nearing end of design life. The outlet works of these dams require regular inspection, which currently involves HSS inspection personnel entering the outlet works and documenting structural deficiencies. This introduces risk to the inspection teams and potential for human errors in data collection.

SOLUTION

The preliminary inspection by the Dambot provides inspection personnel a first look at conditions inside dam outlet works without exposing human operators to unknown conditions, while collecting high-resolution data to be used for more detailed inspections than currently available. This stored high-resolution inspection data can be used to perform remote virtual inspections using virtual reality technologies.

IMPACT

The temporal information collected through multiple scans of the same structure can inform inspectors on degradation over time. In the future, it will be possible to implement artificial intelligence to aid in detecting and tracking potential flaws. Training of new personnel using the collected data sets can be done virtually by comparing flaws detected by experts and trainees.

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REDUCES RISK TO INSPECTION PERSONNEL AND PROVIDES RAPID, HIGH-RESOLUTION AND REPEATABLE INSPECTIONS OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE

ROBOTIC ASSESSMENT OF CLOSURE GATES FOR SAFE ENTRY (DAMBOT)

USACE is improving the earth dam closure gate inspection process by developing a robotic platform for remote semi-autonomous inspections. ERDC, in close collaboration with Hydraulic Steel Structure (HSS) safety personnel, is developing a robotic system capable of performing an initial assessment of the outlet works conduit and gates, along with full photographic documentation. This system will provide a preliminary inspection to mitigate the risk to personnel tasked with inspecting these structures and improve the data collection process. The inspection system will include a semi-autonomous, unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) and an enclosed trailer for deployment. The UGV has amphibious capabilities to deliver a custom-designed sensor suite and computational engine through the conduit to the gates. The trailer serves as a command center for remote operational supervision and a small workshop for field maintenance of the UGV.

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SAND BOIL FLOOD CONTROL TOOLS

Sand boils are the outward manifestation of internal erosion in the vicinity of levee systems. To prevent sand boils from developing into eroded channels beneath a levee, sand boils are monitored and treated if it is determined that significant amounts of sediment are being eroded. Measurements from 2016 along the Mississippi River quantified hydraulic characteristics of sand boils in the field, leading to concepts for sand boil filters. Testing of the sand boil filters in the laboratory indicated that they completely blocked sand leading to a large pressure build-up and the potential for a blowout around the control device. A prototype of the conical sand boil filter was subsequently field-tested during high-water levels on the Mississippi River and Tributary levee system in 2017. These initial tests demonstrated that the filters are indeed effective at preventing further erosion while still allowing the water to freely drain from the foundation. Extensive testing of these new technologies is currently underway and will continue in the sand boil laboratory to examine their effectiveness compared to traditional measures.

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PROBLEM

Current flood fighting methods for sand boils consist of visual monitoring and sandbagging or ringing sand boils to raise hydraulic pressure and decrease erosion. These methods are labor and material intensive and must often be conducted over a wide geographic area (over many miles of levees). New and innovative methods need to be developed to deal with this problem.

SOLUTION

Developing new tools represents an entirely new approach to dealing with sand boils and the associated risks of internal erosion. Considering the large consequences associated with levee failures, flood fighting methods must be “tried and true.”

SAND BOIL FILTERS

IMPACT

The program develops field-deployable tools for mitigating risks during floods, demonstrates their effectiveness and facilitates their adoption in flood fighting. This project aims to produce three main products: a device capable of generating full-scale sand boils to demonstrate sand-boil intervention technologies and methods; tools and technologies to mitigate risks associated with continued development of sand boils; and documentation and communication to support the use and validation of these emerging technologies.

HELP PREVENT FLOOD WATERS FROM TUNNELING PAST LEVEES

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LOAD AND RESISTANCE FACTOR DESIGN FOR CONCRETE HYDRAULIC STRUCTURES The nation’s navigational locks and dams require a large amount of maintenance each year and many lock chambers need major rehabilitation or complete replacement to meet navigation demands.

Current USACE guidance for designing reinforced concrete hydraulic structures focuses primarily on using allowable stress design or half-step load factor design, which are both now considered obsolete.

The current approach in industry codes for designing concrete structures is with Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD). LRFD-based engineering methods provide a risk-based load factor, which establishes a more accurate lifetime model. LRFD principles could not be directly adopted by USACE, so a research effort was undertaken to establish a full LRFD methodology for designing reinforced concrete hydraulic structures. This methodology accounts for soil-structure interaction and allows for more consistently designed structures, which ultimately results in cost savings.

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PROBLEM

Many lock chambers across the nation need to either be rehabilitated or replaced to meet navigational demands. Current USACE guidance documents for designing reinforced concrete hydraulic structures primarily focus on methods that are considered outdated and provide inferior estimates.

SOLUTION

Establish for USACE a full LRFD methodology to be used for designing reinforced concrete hydraulic structures and link it to the design for foundational stability.

DESIGN OPTIMIZED COST REDUCED INTEGRITY MAINTAINED

IMPACT

By applying LRFD methodology to the design of hydraulic structures, each component is designed to have the same probability of failure, which results in a more precise design without excess capacity.

This reduces material requirements while maintaining the same reliability. Thus, the design is optimized, cost is reduced, and integrity is maintained.

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PROBLEM

Ship wakes can cause significant sediment transport and erosion. As the navigation industry expands and vessel traffic increases, there is a greater need to measure impacts from vessel-induced waves.

As there was not a robust, readily available model, empirical equations were often used to estimate vessel wake effects, which frequently led to insufficient quantification.

SOLUTION

FUNWAVE, an open-source community model, was selected as a foundation for modeling this complex problem. Modules were added to FUNWAVE to create a robust, computationally efficient numerical method that can replicate ship-induced wakes for a variety of vessel types. Training material and modules are accessible to both novice and expert modelers.

IMPACT

By creating a numerical method that can replicate the complex phenomena related to vessel wake, USACE can be confident in quantifying vessel wake impacts. Through understanding, areas anticipating extensive vessel wakes can be monitored and appropriate actions taken, or there can be assurance that impacts are acceptable. Furthermore, knowledge gained through this method can ultimately be leveraged in collaboration activities to improve other navigation technologies.

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HIGH-FIDELITY

NUMERICAL MODELING

OF VESSEL WAKE AND RESULTING SHORELINE IMPACT

SHIP WAVES AND EFFECTS ON ADJACENT SHORELINES The navigation industry is continuing to expand, with more vessels on the waterways. As vessel traffic rises, there is a growing need to quantify the impacts and erosion associated with ship-induced waves, which is a complex mathematical problem depending on vessel speed, physical characteristics and bank characteristics. FUNWAVE, an opensource numerical model, was selected as a foundation to model this complicated problem.

ERDC researchers developed new modules that implemented phase-resolving wave modeling to replicate vessel wakes. These validated modules can replicate a variety of ship-wave generation mechanisms and sediment transport with morphology changes. This new method has led to a significant advancement of USACE practice of ship-wake modeling by offering high-fidelity numerical modeling of vessel wake and resulting shoreline impacts.

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COVID-19 DATA ANALYTICS MODELING

When COVID-19 impacted our nation in 2020, ERDC was called in to support the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop an epidemiological model to understand the incidence and distribution of disease outbreaks, as well as analyses of population health and local healthcare infrastructure capacity. This model was used by USACE to support FEMA and HHS with locating alternative care facilities and mass vaccination centers, estimating hospital demand, and developing gating criteria for reopening economies.

Existing demographic and socioeconomic population trends have induced varying rates of spread and impact of the COVID-19 virus across the country. Understanding variation in these disease rates and their ultimate impact on both exposure risk and clinical risk are vital to implementing appropriate public health policy, response, and recovery efforts.

The highly transmissible nature of the coronavirus makes exposure risk higher in those populations who cannot maintain appropiate social distance, such as meat packing plant workers, those living in congregated settings and medical workers. Clinical risk is higher in populations over 65 years old or who have high rates of comorbidities, the latter of which overlaps with traditionally marginalized populations – African Americans, Latinx, and Tribal minority groups in the United States. Understanding population dynamics and subsequent disease spread alongside existing healthcare infrastructure capacity is vital for planning response efforts and allocating emergency medical resources.

SAVES LIVES

AND PROTECTS LIVELIHOODS 62

PROBLEM

Varying COVID-19 infection rates and differing local circumstances demand location-specific data to guide decision makers. Multiple resource allocation and prioritization issues require advanced modeling and data analytics: from distributing vaccines, personal protective equipment, ventilators, emergency food, and other resources; to siting additional healthcare capacity, vaccination clinics, and economic relief.

SOLUTION

ERDC’s epidemiological model helped analyze population health, identify local healthcare infrastructure capacity, optimize siting for alternative care facilities and mass vaccination centers, estimate hospital demand, and develop gating criteria for reopening economies. ERDC constructed a Hospital Rate Utilization tool, which addresses the existing and projected infrastructure capabilities of hospital referral regions, as well as a Vaccine Capacity Tool that provides dynamic data on state-level vaccination capacity and stockpile. ERDC produced a decision-support tool to handle compound disasters of hurricanes and COVID-19 by integrating pandemic protocols into hurricane evacuation procedures. Additionally, ERDC supported the Small Business Administration with an analysis of the Paycheck Protection Program penetration rates across various geographical areas and business sectors.

IMPACT

By providing dynamic and up-to-date issue-relevant and location-specific information, ERDC’s coronavirus pandemic modeling efforts will save lives and minimize economic damage, reduce decision fatigue for federal and state partners, and support struggling households, newly vulnerable groups and traditionally marginalized populations.

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HARNESS THE POWER OF ERDC AT

ERDCINFO@USACE.ARMY.MIL PUBLISH DATE: MAY 2021 APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE DISTRIBUTION UNLIMITED AUTHORED AND EDITED BY: USACE CIVIL WORKS R&D TEAM ERDC CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS OFFICE DESIGNED BY: ERDC INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY PHOTOS BY: U.S. ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS & JUSTIN WILKENS ON UNSPLASH (COVER, INSIDE COVER AND IMAGE TO RIGHT)

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REPORT NUMBER: ERDC/B-21-1