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Levees are a vital part of modern flood risk management. They are part of flood defense systems that may also include flood walls, pumping stations, gates closures, and other associated structures. These elements work together to reduce risk to human life and reduce economic damages from flood events. — USACE extends comment period on draft National Levee Safety Guidelines

'The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced today it is extending the comment period on the draft first edition of the National Levee Safety Guidelines to Aug. 31, 2024. The guidelines were developed with stakeholder input under the National Levee Safety Program and released for public review on...'

7/19/2024
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HQ USACE NEWS RELEASES

Water Resources Development Act of 2024 public comment period

March 6, 2025

News Stories

Tag: ERDC

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May

5 May 2020
ERDC delivers augmented reality solutions in the fight against COVID-19
Scientists and engineers at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) are using augmented reality technology to assist peers throughout the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in virtually conducting site assessments of alternate care facilities (ACFs) across the country. Augmented reality technology, developed by researchers at the ERDC Information Technology Laboratory (ITL), offers a way for the USACE to assess potential ACF locations while assisting with social distancing and safety considerations.
April

17 Apr 2020
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.
15 Apr 2020
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.
March

13 Mar 2020
A Civil Works titan retires from 40-year research career with the Corps
A noteworthy but humble figure exited the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Environmental Laboratory for the last time, February 28, 2020. Dr. Alfred Cofrancesco, Jr. retired from his position as senior scientific technical manager and director of the Civil Works environmental research area for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
10 Mar 2020
U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center assists in mudslide assessment
A team of researchers from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center assisted the Vicksburg National Military Park in assessing landslides and erosion on the grounds.
2 Mar 2020
Want a glimpse of the future? Look no further than ITL’s new DIVE laboratory.
The newest facility at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Information Technology Laboratory (ITL) will make you feel like you’ve traveled forward in time. The Dynamic Immersive Virtual Environment (DIVE) laboratory allows researchers to test and develop solutions for the Department of Defense (DoD) using leading augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) gear. The rise of this technology has already changed the way we work and learn, and it will now be used to allow Army engineers, scientists, and stakeholders to immerse themselves in true scale, 3D environments.
February

28 Feb 2020
Two ERDC researchers earn Black Engineer of the Year awards
At the office, LaKenya Walker spends her time using high-performance computing to help the military better understand its weapon systems. Cameron Thomas works just a few buildings away as an expert in explosive weapons effects. Though their jobs are a bit different, the two U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center employees now have something very special in common—they are both winners of the 2020 Black Engineer of the Year Award (BEYA) for Modern Day Technology Leaders.
26 Feb 2020
Multifunctional Assessment Reconnaissance Vessel allows for remote survey of marine structures
A team of researchers from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory, led by principle investigator Thad Pratt and including co-pi William Butler and research engineers Jonathan Marshall and David Nguyen, have developed and improved a prototype Multifunctional Assessment Reconnaissance Vessel that allows for remote survey of pile-supported marine structures. Operators can produce final data products within 12 hours of arriving on site, allowing structural engineers to deliver a repair plan within 24 hours. The U.S. Transportation Command and Office of the Secretary of Defense-funded project has resulted in the schedule of five units to be delivered to Army dive detachments as part of the Instrument Set, Reconnaissance and Surveying (ENFIRE) program.
21 Feb 2020
The Corps’ Field Research Facility unsurpassed for coastal observation and research
Duck, N.C., (February 18, 2020) -- Along the Outer Banks of North Carolina, in the small coastal town of Duck, the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Field Research Facility has supported the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ coastal engineering mission for more than 40 years.
19 Feb 2020
Uniquely qualified unmanned aircraft systems team completes data collection project
VICKSBURG, Miss. (Feb. 14, 2020) -- As the installation asset mapping project nears completion, the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems Program Manager Jenny Laird said she feels proud of her team. “This has been a two-year project in the making, and it’s a huge accomplishment for our group, the Environmental Laboratory and the ERDC as a whole to have created a comprehensive map for a 700-acre installation,” Laird said. “That’s a large data collection to take on as our first go-around with this type of application.”