USACE News

July

14 Jul 2023
Research shows minerals can help mitigate PFAS in groundwater
Emerging chemicals of environmental concern in water represent a major challenge for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in terms of exposure risks to humans and the environment. The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) is working to understand detection, fate and transport, and remediation of a group of these chemicals, generally known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
14 Jul 2023
Wrackcycling: Using nature to build stronger dune systems
Most beachgoers don’t think anything of the brown line of seaweed and other organic material that marks beach tide lines. This natural material that washes onto the beach – called wrack – includes algae, sea grasses and some invertebrates such as sponges and soft corals. Despite its unassumingness, wrack may be essential to helping dunes in protecting coastal shorelines from damaging weather such as hurricanes and tropical storms.
14 Jul 2023
Digital buoys could expand inland navigation communications network
With more than 12,000 buoys already playing a critical role in our nation’s inland navigation system, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is researching a way to use patented technology to make those buoys even more valuable.
19 Jul 2022
A digital partner to building better, faster
Each month, Jonathan Boone comes into his office in Vicksburg, Mississippi, sits down and inputs data collected from the ongoing construction of a new state-of-the-art medical facility in Missouri. He updates timelines, construction schedules, supply chain information and recent permitting approvals.
19 Jul 2022
Using optimization strategies to prioritize and schedule dredging operations
Researchers with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) have developed dredging optimization models using artificial intelligence and operations research methods to help prioritize and schedule dredging operations across the enterprise.
19 Jul 2022
Protecting, modernizing our nation’s infrastructure
Imagine a world where buildings are coated in a material that turns slightly darker in the winter, absorbing solar energy to help warm the interior. Imagine that same material turning white during the summer to better reflect that same solar energy, keeping the interior cooler.
19 Jul 2022
Robotics within USACE: The future is right now
A team from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) is utilizing robotics to help keep U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) team members out of harm’s way and enable successful completion of the Corps’ vital civil works mission.
April

23 Apr 2021
Expanding the Practice of EWN through Landscape Architecture
VICKSBURG, Miss. – In this episode of the Engineering With Nature (EWN) Podcast, Dr. Jeff King, deputy national lead of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) EWN program, discusses how three landscape architects ― Auburn University’s Rob Holmes, University of Pennsylvania’s Sean Burkholder and the University of Virginia’s Brian Davis — have joined forces with EWN to explore innovative solutions to coastal resilience. The group describes their efforts to synthesize the engineering and landscape architecture disciplines and the opportunities and potential for advancing EWN practices. The EWN approach of leveraging natural processes to accomplish the desired engineering outcome while creating environmental and social benefits aligns well with the discipline of landscape architecture in which landscapes are co-designed by humans and natural processes. King and his guests discuss the power of integrating landscape architecture practices into the work Burkholder, Holmes and King are doing with colleagues at the Philadelphia District along the New Jersey coast.
16 Apr 2021
Two ERDC researchers give back to Latin American developing communities
Since the start of the new fiscal year, two environmental engineers from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Environmental Laboratory have contributed their time and expertise as mentors to college-aged students as part of an all-volunteer organization dedicated to improving the health and quality of life of developing communities across Latin America.
16 Apr 2021
ERDC scientist honored with Arthur S. Flemming Award as outstanding federal employee
VICKSBURG, Miss. – Dr. Igor Linkov, senior science and technology manager at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC) Environmental Laboratory, has been selected by the George Washington University and Arthur S. Flemming Commission as one of 12 exceptional public servants in 2020.