Power of ERDC

The ships calling upon U.S. ports have grown larger, and navigation channels must be dredged to greater depths to handle them. However, dredging is expensive, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) needs more data-driven tools to prioritize limited resources more efficiently.

Responding to this need, ERDC developed Underkeel Clearance. Applying newly available ship location data and combining it with other data points, this metric directly measures how often ship keels approach the bottom of a channel. By analyzing how ships are using the dredging USACE already provides and highlighting the areas with the highest volume of ships with limited clearance, Underkeel Clearance gives USACE waterway managers new insight to better quantify channel maintenance requirements. The project falls under the USACE Coastal Inlets Research Program.

We discuss Underkeel Clearance with Dr. David Young and Dr. Brandan Scully, research civil engineers at ERDC’s Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory.

Topics include how dredging decisions have traditionally been made (3:07), how Underkeel Clearance can improve this methodology (5:33) and surprises that have emerged as researchers began analyzing Underkeel Clearance data (14:46). We also talk about how this tool could change USACE dredging operations (17:23), other use cases of this data (21:32) and what the future holds for the effort (33:47).

For more information on the Power of ERDC podcast, visit https://www.PowerofERDCPodcast.org.

As America’s civil works infrastructure facilities age beyond their initial design lives, so do the thousands of individual components that keep them functioning. These original components were often fabricated using vintage material and manufacturing methods, making them costly, burdensome and time-consuming to replicate. However, if one of these parts were to suddenly break, that failure could shut down a facility for months, causing significant national economic damage. 

Faced with this challenge, the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) is studying how innovative techniques, such as additive manufacturing (large-scale 3D printing), advanced materials and design optimization can be used to replace vintage infrastructure components faster and at a lower cost while maintaining, and even improving, their properties.

This research resulted in a recent collaboration with the USACE Detroit District and Lincoln Electric to manufacture the largest U.S. civil works infrastructure component produced by a 3D printer – a 12-foot-long, 6,000-pound metal part for the ship arrestor system on the Poe Lock, one of two active locks on the Soo Locks facility.

We discuss ERDC’s advanced manufacturing research with Dr. Robert Moser and Dr. Zack McClelland from ERDC’s Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory. Moser is a Senior Scientific Technical Manager for Materials, Manufacturing and Structures, and McClelland is a research mechanical engineer.

We talk about the existing state of aging infrastructure and the role additive manufacturing can play to meet this challenge (3:49), how ERDC became involved in 3D printing and how that capability has evolved (7:09), ERDC’s focus areas for advanced manufacturing R&D (11:36), and the project to manufacture the largest U.S. civil works infrastructure component produced by a 3D printer (18:40). We also discuss how ERDC is working to overcome some of the challenges of 3D-printing large infrastructure components (25:27), how ERDC’s high-performance computing capability boosts this effort (28:49), how it has benefitted from military research (39:02) and what the future holds (49:11).

For more information on the Power of ERDC podcast, visit https://www.PowerofERDCPodcast.org.

Despite modern transportation advancements, rail remains a superior method for moving heavy military equipment over vast inland distances. However, transporting tanks by train requires railyard facilities with specialized equipment capable of moving the armored vehicles onto and off of the rail cars.

In response, the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) developed the Rapidly Available Interface for trans-Loading (RAIL), a transportable ramp system that allows military vehicles to be onloaded or offloaded anywhere along a rail line. A collaboration between ERDC and the Combat Capabilities Development Command Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC), RAIL will provide greater operational flexibility to quickly transport armored vehicles where they are most needed.

We talk about RAIL with Justin Strickler, chief of the Engineering Systems and Materials Division at ERDC’s Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory.

Topics discussed include the importance of trains to a modernized U.S. force (3:29) and how RAIL can improve current practice for loading and off-loading heavy armored vehicles (4:48) and enable more agile power projection for U.S. and Allied Forces (8:16). We also discuss the system’s versatility (16:50), how it was developed in collaboration with GVSC (21:12) by rapidly adapting technology for offloading battle tanks at damaged seaport facilities (11:18), and how the effort has leveraged ERDC’s deep expertise in force projection (30:32).

For more information on RAIL, contact Strickler at Justin.S.Strickler (at) usace.army.mil.

For more information on the Power of ERDC podcast, visit https://www.PowerofERDCPodcast.org.

When river levels rise, so does the threat of sand boils, which occur when water bubbles out of the ground near the base of a levee, surrounded by a mound of displaced soil. Caused by increased pressure, sand boils are a visible sign of erosion within a levee. And unless they are treated immediately, these sand boils will grow and more sediment will be displaced, escalating the risk of a catastrophic breach. However, the current method for fighting sand boils is difficult, expensive and dangerous, requiring hundreds of sandbags.

To simplify this cumbersome process, ERDC researchers have developed a special lightweight filter that can be inserted into a sand boil to alleviate the pressure and stop the erosion. A single person could install it in about 15 minutes, allowing personnel to alleviate multiple sand boils more safely and efficiently – providing greater protection to our nation’s critical levee systems and the lives and livelihoods they defend.

We discuss these Sand Boil Filter kits with Samantha Lucker, a research geologist with ERDC’s Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory.

We talk about why sand boils must be promptly addressed (5:04), and how ERDC’s new filters will improve on the current process (7:56) and enable better levee management (9:04). We also discuss how this effort started (17:00), how it builds on ERDC’s deep expertise in studying the Mississippi River (22:54), and how researchers are improving the filter’s design (21:00) to increase its usage (25:23).

For more information on these Sand Boil Filter kits, contact Lucker at Samantha.L.Lucker (at) usace.army.mil.

For more information on the Power of ERDC podcast, visit https://www.PowerofERDCPodcast.org.

Monitoring large and constantly changing coastlines can be expensive, time consuming and dangerous. Traditional surveying methods are also limited because they only provide a single snapshot in time and don’t capture the full picture. As a result, coastal managers don’t always have the information they need to understand dynamic coastal conditions and plan projects that preserve our nation’s coasts, protect the environment, and support the economy.

To overcome this knowledge gap, ERDC launched CorpsCam, which uses remote video technology to better monitor federal beach and other coastal projects. CorpsCam can rapidly analyze a variety of images, from cellphone pictures uploaded by citizen scientists to scientific-grade video captured by high-end cameras, to provide hourly data on beach state, erosion rates, bathymetry, wave parameters and more. It is enabling better project designs and more proactive coastal management.

Joining us to talk about CorpsCam are Dr. Brittany Bruder, Dr. Ian Conery and Sean McGill from ERDC’s Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory (CHL). Bruder is a research coastal engineer based at CHL’s Field Research Facility (FRF) on North Carolina’s Outer Banks, and Conery is a research oceanographer based at the FRF. McGill is a research physical scientist at CHL’s Vicksburg location.

Topics include what CorpsCam is and how it can improve coastal resilience (4:06), how it got started (18:50), and the types of locations the effort is targeting (12:48). We also talk about ERDC’s Field Research Facility and its capabilities (22:21) and growing military portfolio (26:36). And we discuss past CorpsCam projects (28:11) and what lies ahead for this effort (39:06).

For more information on CorpsCam, visit https://coastalimaging.erdc.dren.mil/CorpsCam or email Bruder at Brittany.L.Bruder (at) usace.army.mil.

For more information on the Power of ERDC podcast, visit https://www.PowerofERDCPodcast.org.

We talk with Dr. Ben Parsons, chief technology officer with the High Performance Computing Modernization Program (HPCMP), about how the program enables the Department of Defense (DOD) to solve its most critical mission challenges.

Managed by ERDC, the HPCMP delivers world-class high-performance computing and expertise to DOD engineers and scientists. Its five DOD Supercomputing Resource Centers are spread throughout the country and deliver 7.8 billion processor hours of computing power each year to support some of the world’s largest computational projects. The program provides the DOD research and acquisition communities access to insight that would otherwise be too costly, dangerous, or time intensive to obtain through observation and experiment alone.

We talk with Ben about why supercomputing is important to the DOD research community (4:14), ERDC’s role in the HPCMP (6:18), and how much combined computing power the program provides to DOD researchers (8:43). We also discuss specific projects that have been enabled by the HPCMP (13:44, 16:30), how it improves DOD acquisition efforts (15:25), how the team ensures the program remains on the cutting edge as computer technology continuously evolves (13:03) and what lies ahead on the HPCMP’s horizon (22:25).

Visit https://www.PowerofERDCPodcast.org for more information.

We talk with Dr. Orian Welling and Mr. Michael Parker from ERDC’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory about how ERDC’s cold weather mobility expertise will directly help the U.S. military better protect and defend the Arctic.

As the Arctic grows in strategic importance to the United States, the region also presents unique challenges to military mobility. Heavy duty tires designed for rugged terrains don’t handle as well on cold, slick surfaces. And ice and snow aren’t the only challenges facing military vehicles in Arctic environments. In fact, mobility becomes even more difficult during the spring months when frozen ground begins to thaw, and the terrain is transformed into a muddy, swampy quagmire.

ERDC’s research is enabling better cold weather tires and leading to robust cross-country mobility models that can forecast ice thickness, snow depth and thaw, and predict which vehicles can perform where in Arctic conditions. ERDC is also providing knowledge and developing algorithms and systems that will allow autonomous manned and unmanned systems to navigate in cold regions.

We talk with Orian and Mike about how their unique backgrounds contribute to this research (6:41, 30:16), why the Army needs to study Arctic mobility (4:13), the unique challenges of the spring thaw (34:47), and how the expertise of CRREL’s mobility team (8:57) and the laboratory’s world-class specialized facilities (11:27) enable this capability. We also discuss specific projects, such as work on winter tires (16:54), mobility models (25:56) and cold weather autonomy (21:21). And we talk about how the effort benefits from ERDC’s cross-disciplinary research (38:07), as well as from partnerships and international collaboration (40:34).

Visit https://www.PowerofERDCPodcast.org for more information.

We talk with Jeremy Herring and Kelly Ervin from ERDC’s Information Technology Laboratory about how ERDC is enabling next-generation engineering by applying augmented reality and virtual reality capabilities.

These disruptive technologies can help solve a diverse range of current and future problems by immersing users in virtual scenes. As uses continue to grow, ERDC established the Dynamic Immersive Virtual Environment laboratory in December 2019 to study how to best apply augmented and virtual reality to help the Department of Defense, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and other federal agencies.

Their research is producing tools that allow users to clearly visualize problems and proposed solutions, enabling more informed decisions. It will result in better facility and infrastructure planning, improved communication, enhanced construction practices, more robust training opportunities and more.

We discuss with Jeremy and Kelly how ERDC’s augmented and virtual reality effort got started (17:48), the transformative benefits offered by these technologies (7:51), and how they can change the way we communicate (15:36). We also talk about ERDC’s unique capabilities (28:05) and past efforts in this space (19:18), how this research can help the military (33:12) and what lies ahead on the cutting edge (38:55).

Visit https://www.PowerofERDCPodcast.org for more information.

Soldiers are often forced to operate using outdated geospatial data that may not accurately represent current ground conditions. This creates challenges when trying to find the best possible routes for troop maneuvers or when selecting helicopter landing zones.

The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) is developing a series of tools to solve this problem. These tools enable Army geospatial engineers to rapidly process new remotely sensed imagery from a variety of sources and use it to analyze current terrain conditions. Processes that once took hours can now be completed in seconds or minutes, and with higher accuracy, giving the Warfighter superior situational awareness and knowledge of the operational environment.

On the latest episode of the Power of ERDC podcast, we discuss this project with Nikki Wayant, research geographer at ERDC’s Geospatial Research Laboratory and task lead for the Enhanced Terrain Processing effort.

We discuss the challenges caused by outdated geospatial data (3:17), the wide range of tools and terrain analysis products available through the Enhanced Terrain Processing effort (14:55), how these tools allow data to be combined in new ways (18:37, 23:32) and how they enable mission success (12:48). We also talk about the relationship with the Army Geospatial Center’s Military Support Team and how it enables better products (20:23), when the tools will be available to Soldiers (20:06), how the effort has evolved through machine learning (30:16), and what the future holds for it (31:58).

Visit https://www.PowerofERDCPodcast.org for more information.

Military operations require large amounts of energy to train, move and sustain forces, as well as to power weapons platforms – and this is known as operational energy. Given the high human toll and financial cost of supplying this energy to frontline forces, new strategies are seeking to electrify the battlefield and reduce the reliance on fossil fuels.

The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) is on the leading edge of efforts to find new ways to power U.S. forces, including innovations in energy storage and power management. By reducing the reliance on fuel resupply, ERDC’s work will save lives and money and will give units more flexibility to extend their operational reach and increase freedom of maneuver, enabling more successful Multi-Domain Operations.

On the latest episode of the Power of ERDC podcast, we discuss these efforts with Tom Decker, operational energy program manager at ERDC’s Construction Engineering Research Laboratory.

We talk about why operational energy is an ERDC priority (4:06), the electrified battlefield concept (4:31), how ERDC’s effort benefits from both the organization’s history (13:10) and Decker’s military background (11:12), and how these efforts have a broader impact than the U.S. Military (19:25, 26:17).

We also discuss several ERDC initiatives in this area, including providing data that enables better-informed energy decisions (14:10), hybrid systems that allow tactical generators to provide more power with less fuel (17:46), and a flow battery can energize critical parts of an installation when needed (20:49). And we explore what lies in the art of the possible in terms of operational energy (29:27) and how this effort fits into Multi-Domain Operations and Army modernization concepts (31:03).

Visit https://www.PowerofERDCPodcast.org for more information.