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  • Infrastructure Innovation: New Poe Lock arrestor arm is the largest U.S. civil works component produced by 3D printer

    As America’s civil works infrastructure ages, managers need innovative solutions to replace parts that have been in service for nearly a century. Often, these original components were fabricated using vintage material and manufacturing methods, making them costly, burdensome and time-consuming to replace. Responding to this need, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is employing cutting-edge 3D printing techniques to manufacture these parts faster and at a lower cost while maintaining, and even improving, their properties. In early March, the USACE Detroit District installed the largest U.S. civil works infrastructure component produced by a 3D printer – a 12-foot-long metal part for the ship arrestor system on the Poe Lock, one of the two active locks on the Soo Locks facility. Building on years of research performed by the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), the part was manufactured in 12 weeks, compared to a projected 18-month lead time for conventional manufacturing. The part was installed, tested and commissioned during the Soo Locks’ winter maintenance cycle. The rapid repair ensured normal operations at Poe Lock, a major transit point for domestic iron ore.
  • Serving the Northwest from afar

    Every day, Gabrielle Marucci sits down at her desk and logs into her computer, checking her email and meeting schedule. Her desk sits next to a window and, outside, one might expect to see scenery indicative of the Pacific Northwest. Marucci, after all, works for the Walla Walla District, located in the state of Washington.
  • Innovative project receives 2023 Department of the Air Force Design Award

    When you hear the word ‘merit’, you probably think of a great achievement or outstanding accomplishment. Both of those things could be used to describe the work of the Whiteman Air Force Base Resident Office, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District on the Consolidated Operations Building at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri. The civil engineering team at Whiteman has done great work on this building, and their effort was recognized. The Combined Operations Building was selected as the recipient of a Merit Award for the 2023 Department of the Air Force Design Awards at the 14th annual Design and Construction Partnering Symposium, sponsored by the Air Force Civil Engineer Center.
  • ERDC’s Environmental Laboratory’s graphene research leads to a collaboration with NASA

    Scientists and engineers from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center's (ERDC) Environmental Laboratory (EL) are conducting research that could lead to sustaining and advancing technology more efficiently and at a lower cost, both on Earth and in space.
  • ERDC’s Centrifuge Research Complex undergoes innovative upgrades

    Upgrades were recently completed to one of the world’s most powerful beam centrifuges, giving modernized functionality to one of the most innovative pieces of technology at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC).
  • Historic agreement creates river sand management partnership

    Members from the city of Wabasha, Minnesota, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, gathered at the National Eagle Center in Wabasha to sign a historic partnership agreement July 24.
  • Untapped Possibilities: Could navigation on the “Big Muddy” provide clean solutions for a more sustainable future?

    The words “green” and “clean” are likely not the first that come to mind when thinking of ground transportation in the U.S. Trucks on the interstate and railroads are probably what come to mind first, but the greenest and cleanest form of ground transportation is one that often gets overlooked: waterway navigation. As the oldest form of transportation, navigation on U.S. waterways is not a new concept. At face value, navigation of the nation’s waterways and environmental sustainability may not seem to be related. Except they are, as navigation has very little negative impact to our environment.
  • Army Corps of Engineers employee thinks big by patenting petite wagon creation

    As she walked into the manufacturing warehouse to check up on her invention, Michelle Baldridge entered a place that resembled more of a wonderland from various worlds than a sterile lab where robotic arms might assemble pieces of new technology in secret.
  • Pioneering Partnership Strives to Save Lives Through Innovation

    Winning an award is not the goal of innovation but they often go hand-in-hand. The goal of innovation, according to Medium.com, is to improve life for the end-user. A pioneering partnership between three U.S. Army Corps of Engineers organizations recently received a USACE Innovation of the Year Award for doing just that – and then some! This team’s innovative approach to solving an engineering challenge doesn’t simply improve the life of the end-user, it strives to save their life.
  • A New Type of Artificial Reef

    Innovation is the key to success in finding balance between the relocation of dredged materials and ecosystem management. The Lorain Harbor Section 204 Project Delivery Team (PDT) completed a Feasibility Study to identify geosynthetic containers (GSCs) as an alternative to beneficially use dredged material from Lorain Harbor for aquatic habitat restoration in the Lorain, Ohio area.