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  • PUBLICATION NOTICE: AIS Data Case Study: River Level and Vessel Approach Variation at Melvin Price Locks and Dam in St. Louis District

    ABSRACT: The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), St. Louis District (MVS), manages multiple lock and dam structures on the Mississippi River. One of these, Melvin Price Locks and Dam (MPLD), was the subject of at least 12 allision events from downbound (southbound) vessels between January and November 2018 according to US Coast Guard (USCG) records, an unusually high number for this location. In an effort to understand how vessel operations change under varying river conditions, historical river gauge data and historical vessel position data for both upbound (northbound) and downbound (southbound) traffic were examined together to describe general approach paths for vessels at different water levels. Historic tracks for vessels involved in allusion events are not included in this work because of ongoing investigations at the time of publication.

  • PUBLICATION NOTICE: Benefits of Engineered Habitats to Seasonal Bird Communities on the Savannah Harbor Navigation Project, Dredged Material Containment Areas, 1994-2012

    Abstract: This report presents the results of a long-term habitat and trend analyses of bird community data from a monitoring effort conducted on five Dredged Material Containment Areas (DMCAs) from 1994 to 2012. The USACE Savannah District developed and implemented a Long-Term Management Strategy (LTMS) for the DMCAs in 1996 to mitigate lost wetland habitat due to maintenance operations in the Savannah Harbor, and to provide habitat for the floral and faunal communities that otherwise would be available if not for the urban and economic development of the area. Bimonthly surveys were conducted from 1994 to 2012 to assess the effectiveness of the LTMS to provide seasonal habitat for the bird community. Archived quarterly satellite imagery was collected and analyzed from 2001 to 2011 to assess year-round seasonal habitat availability. All bird community data collected were fitted to a negative binomial (mean abundance) or Poisson distribution (mean species richness) and used to assess trends for 180 individual species and 12 species groups for spring, summer, fall, and winter seasons from 1994 to 2012. Results indicate that the Savannah DMCAs support stable to increasing populations of most species and species groups during each season, including many species ranked as regional priority species.

  • PUBLICATION NOTICE: Investigation into Laboratory Bathymetric Measurement Techniques

    ABSTRACT: There is no universally accepted way to accurately and efficiently measure bathymetry in laboratory hydraulic models. Remote sensing techniques can measure bathymetry without making contact with the model, and some remote sensing techniques can measure the bathymetry in laboratory models without draining the water. The four categories of remote sensing technology investigated in this report are echo sounding technology, laser technology, image processing technology, and radar technology. The technology of each category has strengths and limitations, but can be used in the laboratory to measure bathymetry. Echo sounding technology works well in environments with suspended sediment, but the accuracy is reduced by large beam footprints. Laser technology does not perform as well with suspended sediment but can provide high-accuracy bathymetric measurements. Stereophotography, discussed in the image processing technology section, requires optically clear water and can provide very accurate bathymetric mapping. Radar technology can be very helpful when sub-bottom stratigraphy is important. Technology from each of the categories has been scaled for field application to measure bathymetry and submerged coastal structures.

  • PUBLICATION NOTICE: Evaluation of the Potential Impacts of the Proposed Mobile Harbor Navigation Channel Expansion on the Aquatic Resources of Mobile Bay, Alabama

    Abstract: This report assesses potential impacts to aquatic resources resulting from proposed navigation channel expansion activities within Mobile Bay, Alabama. This work was conducted for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Mobile District, to support development of a supplemental Environmental Impact Statement. Changes in water quality and hydrodynamics were evaluated for potential impacts to benthic macroinvertebrates, wetlands, submerged aquatic vegetation, oysters, and fish. The assessment includes extensive characterization of baseline conditions, evaluation of estimated post-project conditions related to aquatic resource habitat (e.g., changes in salinity, dissolved oxygen). An analysis of potential impacts related to a 0.5-m sea level rise scenario were also evaluated. Results suggest that no substantial impacts in aquatic resources within the study area are anticipated due to project implementation, as the area of greatest potential changes to environmental conditions are already adapted to natural shifts in salinity (and other factors), and to conditions resulting from the existing navigation channel. Although sea level rise has the potential to alter aquatic resource habitats with Mobile Bay, additional impacts related to project implementation remain negligible under the 0.5-m sea level rise scenario.

  • CRREL, Area Fire Departments and the NH Department Environmental Services work to contain spill

    The Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory discovered a Number 2 heating oil leak from a boiler at its facility at approximately 4 p.m., Saturday, April 25. The CRREL facility is located at 72 Lyme Road in Hanover. No injuries have been reported. CRREL, along with the Hanover, Lebanon, Hartford and Norwich Fire Departments and the New Hampshire Department for Environmental Services are working together to contain the spill. Residents are asked to stay away from the area at this time.

  • Discovering the Mural in Permafrost

    In the forests of Fox, Alaska, carved into a frozen hillside is a unique manmade 350-meter long research tunnel. Situated on a 16-acre parcel near the confluence of Goldstream and Glenn Creeks, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Research and Development Center’s Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory’s Permafrost Tunnel Research Facility was excavated deep into a large block of discontinuous permafrost that has been going through several recent periods of expansion. The expansion project began back in 2011, taking advantage of the digging seasons when the ground is at its coldest, with an overall project goal of expanding the tunnel facility to better support ongoing and growing research and engineering needs. The most recent expansion effort, this year, has added 300-feet of new tunnel, improved 200 feet of the existing tunnel and added links between the old and new tunnel sections at several locations, to include at an interface between subsurface bedrock and overlying gravels.

  • Team successfully tests new unmanned autonomous surface vessel

    Anxious at first about the specter of possible software glitches that would derail the project, the U.S. Army Engineer and Development Center’s Justin Wilkens, a research biologist with the Environmental Laboratory, soon confirmed that everything was functioning well. He and a team of other EL research biologists, including Dr. Guilherme Lotufo and Dr. Mark Ballentine, visited Vieques, an island off the coast of Puerto Rico, for five days in February to demonstrate a new unmanned autonomous surface vessel, or USV.

  • DoD High Performance Computing Modernization Supports the Fight Against COVID-19

    From modeling the movement of how droplets travel through an aircraft to conducting virtual screenings of vaccine possibilities, the Department of Defense High Performance Computing Modernization Program has a powerful weapon in the fight against COVID-19—supercomputers.

  • U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center prototypes makeshift hospital rooms

    The Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite has made headlines for his plans to construct makeshift hospital rooms across the country as the Nation prepares for an onslaught of COVID-19 patients. Recently, Semonite called on the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Develeopment Center in Vicksburg to ask for help in accomplishing that mission.

  • CRREL employee tests positive for COVID-19

    A U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center employee assigned to the Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory, based in Hanover, New Hampshire has tested positive for COVID-19. The employee is currently in a quarantine status at home. All personnel who have come into contact with the infected employee have been notified and the laboratory continues to enforce safety measures to protect the workforce. The ERDC is continuing to restrict access to only mission critical personnel and essential services contractors at its facilities in New Hampshire and across the nation. In addition, the organization continues to closely adhere to all official federal and state safety and health directives to protect the workforce and prevent the spread of COVID-19.