WEBVTT 00:00.009 --> 00:02.119 Welcome to the September edition of 00:02.130 --> 00:04.710 Core Connection , the vlog from your US 00:04.719 --> 00:06.830 Army Corps of Engineers , which takes 00:06.830 --> 00:08.830 you inside the castle and shows you 00:08.830 --> 00:11.199 what you is working on . I'm your host , 00:11.210 --> 00:14.130 Patrick Bloodgood . In this episode , 00:14.140 --> 00:16.196 we tag along with engineers from the 00:16.196 --> 00:18.473 Philadelphia and Los Angeles districts . 00:18.473 --> 00:20.584 As they inspect a high span bridge in 00:20.584 --> 00:22.418 Maryland , the Savannah District 00:22.418 --> 00:24.529 discovered some revolutionary war era 00:24.529 --> 00:26.829 artifacts in the Savannah River . They 00:26.840 --> 00:28.951 show us how they are preserving these 00:28.951 --> 00:31.450 relics . Our engineering research and 00:31.459 --> 00:33.292 Development center is working on 00:33.292 --> 00:35.181 simulation programs to assist our 00:35.181 --> 00:37.292 combat fighters and how they navigate 00:37.292 --> 00:39.990 for amphibious landings . And the A 00:40.150 --> 00:42.372 team is researching different materials 00:42.372 --> 00:44.594 and their strengths for applications in 00:44.594 --> 00:46.830 combat environments . We also give you 00:46.840 --> 00:49.000 a behind the scenes , look at the USS 00:49.009 --> 00:51.290 unmanned aerial systems program as we 00:51.299 --> 00:53.669 fly with the Sacramento District . All 00:53.680 --> 00:55.599 those stories coming up on core 00:55.610 --> 00:56.439 connection . 01:08.250 --> 01:11.220 Safety is always a main concern for the 01:11.230 --> 01:13.550 US Army Corps of Engineers for the 01:13.559 --> 01:15.670 Philadelphia District , which has the 01:15.670 --> 01:17.860 largest inventory of high span bridges 01:17.870 --> 01:19.699 throughout the cop . The job of 01:19.709 --> 01:21.765 ensuring these bridges are up to the 01:21.765 --> 01:23.820 task of safely handling thousands of 01:23.820 --> 01:25.940 vehicles per day . Is paramount . We 01:25.949 --> 01:28.005 spent the day with engineers as they 01:28.005 --> 01:30.171 take a detailed look at the Chesapeake 01:30.171 --> 01:32.393 City Bridge in Maryland to make sure it 01:32.393 --> 01:34.393 continues to be a safe and reliable 01:34.393 --> 01:36.171 means for vehicles to cross the 01:36.171 --> 01:38.959 Delaware and Chesapeake Canal high 01:38.970 --> 01:41.489 above the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal . 01:41.500 --> 01:43.500 Engineers with the US Army Corps of 01:43.500 --> 01:45.660 engineers load into lifts and other 01:45.669 --> 01:47.725 specialized equipment to get a close 01:47.725 --> 01:49.836 look at the Chesapeake City Bridge on 01:49.836 --> 01:51.891 the approach span , they have five . 01:52.279 --> 01:54.650 The Philadelphia District is a center 01:54.669 --> 01:56.836 of expertise for bridge inspection and 01:56.836 --> 01:58.613 evaluation within their area of 01:58.613 --> 02:00.613 responsibility alone . They have 11 02:00.613 --> 02:02.819 bridges to look after including five 02:02.830 --> 02:05.430 high span bridges . Every two years . 02:05.440 --> 02:07.680 We do an inspection on our five highway 02:07.690 --> 02:09.970 bridges of which we have 150,000 02:09.979 --> 02:13.850 crossings a day . The engineers 02:13.860 --> 02:16.289 look above and below the bridge to see 02:16.300 --> 02:18.189 if there are any issues that need 02:18.189 --> 02:20.300 attention . You're gonna have a floor 02:20.300 --> 02:23.020 at each panel point . We uh go on the 02:23.029 --> 02:25.429 on the bridge inspection vehicle . And 02:25.440 --> 02:27.496 so that way we can go underneath and 02:27.496 --> 02:29.889 have an arms length inspection of all 02:29.899 --> 02:33.550 the steel members . We use uh 02:33.660 --> 02:36.229 cameras , uh hammer if there are any 02:36.240 --> 02:39.440 corrosion and uh we take photos and 02:39.449 --> 02:41.671 notes of all the deficiencies on the on 02:41.671 --> 02:45.149 the steel . If the inspectors find an 02:45.160 --> 02:46.938 issue , they begin to work on a 02:46.938 --> 02:48.882 maintenance plan . So based on the 02:48.882 --> 02:50.993 findings on the inspection , we can , 02:50.993 --> 02:53.216 if there are any repairs needed for the 02:53.216 --> 02:56.850 bridge , we can create plans and 02:56.860 --> 03:00.289 specs and then have future 03:00.300 --> 03:02.740 contracts do the repairs on the bridge . 03:02.789 --> 03:05.011 It's through inspections like this that 03:05.011 --> 03:08.649 lead to maintenance like this . An 18 03:08.660 --> 03:11.639 month , $45.8 million overhaul to the 03:11.649 --> 03:13.871 ST George's bridge in Delaware which is 03:13.871 --> 03:15.871 replacing the bridge decking median 03:15.871 --> 03:17.871 barrier as well as replacing bridge 03:17.871 --> 03:19.649 approaches and other structural 03:19.649 --> 03:22.830 features . The work the engineers do 03:22.839 --> 03:24.869 here also stretches beyond the 03:24.880 --> 03:27.009 Philadelphia District . As the center 03:27.020 --> 03:29.160 of expertise , they work with other 03:29.169 --> 03:31.410 districts to train their engineers as 03:31.419 --> 03:33.363 well as perform bridge inspections 03:33.363 --> 03:35.530 within the other districts borders Los 03:35.530 --> 03:37.808 Angeles District , structural engineer , 03:37.808 --> 03:40.030 Leonard Tran is on site working closely 03:40.030 --> 03:42.141 with his Philadelphia counterparts to 03:42.141 --> 03:44.419 expand his bridge inspection knowledge . 03:44.419 --> 03:46.308 These bridges right here are very 03:46.308 --> 03:48.419 unique and then we don't have that in 03:48.419 --> 03:50.475 our district . So to be an effective 03:50.475 --> 03:52.530 team lead and for my district in the 03:52.530 --> 03:52.220 future , I would like to gain more 03:52.229 --> 03:54.340 experience working on more variety of 03:54.340 --> 03:56.507 different bridges around the country . 03:57.414 --> 03:59.247 Also be taking his newly learned 03:59.247 --> 04:01.358 knowledge overseas when he deploys as 04:01.358 --> 04:03.692 part of a Ford engineering support team . 04:03.692 --> 04:05.747 I guess the purpose of going to this 04:05.747 --> 04:07.858 bridge inspection program is not only 04:07.858 --> 04:10.085 to benefit the airway district but also 04:10.095 --> 04:12.835 benefit my fest team as we are supposed 04:12.845 --> 04:16.084 to deploy in a few months . So I want 04:16.095 --> 04:19.024 my orders to inspect the bridges in 04:19.035 --> 04:21.160 Europe . Engineers say it can be a 04:21.170 --> 04:23.170 little disconcerting the first time 04:23.170 --> 04:25.392 they perform one of these inspections . 04:25.392 --> 04:27.503 But after a while , it becomes second 04:27.503 --> 04:29.614 nature at first , it's a little nerve 04:29.614 --> 04:31.781 wracking , but you kind of get used to 04:31.781 --> 04:31.019 it after a while . Yeah , it's not too 04:31.029 --> 04:33.251 bad . It's definitely high up , but you 04:33.251 --> 04:35.029 get a nice view out of it . The 04:35.029 --> 04:37.251 ultimate goal of the inspection program 04:37.251 --> 04:39.085 is to keep these vital pieces of 04:39.085 --> 04:41.140 infrastructure throughout the nation 04:41.140 --> 04:43.260 safe for all who use them . So these 04:43.269 --> 04:45.436 inspections are very important because 04:45.436 --> 04:47.547 it's the chief of engineers . Highest 04:47.547 --> 04:49.491 priorities as well as mine is life 04:49.491 --> 04:51.047 safety . Well , it is a big 04:51.047 --> 04:52.880 responsibility because uh we are 04:52.880 --> 04:54.713 inspecting this bridge here that 04:54.713 --> 04:56.899 thousands of people drive over every 04:56.910 --> 05:00.410 day and we are uh taking care of their , 05:00.529 --> 05:02.418 their life from Chesapeake City , 05:02.418 --> 05:05.320 Maryland , Patrick Bloodgood , the city 05:05.329 --> 05:07.850 of Savannah is a historic southern city 05:07.859 --> 05:10.070 and its waterway . The Savannah River 05:10.079 --> 05:12.950 holds treasures . Few have ever seen a 05:13.010 --> 05:14.843 few of these treasures turned up 05:14.843 --> 05:16.899 recently when the river's navigation 05:16.899 --> 05:20.600 channel was being dredged . Let's say 05:20.609 --> 05:22.609 you've discovered more than a dozen 05:22.609 --> 05:24.776 revolutionary war cannon at the bottom 05:24.776 --> 05:26.942 of a brackish river and lifted them up 05:26.942 --> 05:29.220 out of the water . What do you do next ? 05:29.739 --> 05:32.010 One thing is for sure , doing nothing 05:32.019 --> 05:34.019 will destroy the artifacts . If you 05:34.019 --> 05:36.540 take material out of the sea and you 05:36.549 --> 05:38.660 don't do anything to conserve it , it 05:38.660 --> 05:40.993 will , it will deteriorate very quickly . 05:43.109 --> 05:45.109 That's why when archaeologists from 05:45.109 --> 05:47.165 Chronicle heritage under contract to 05:47.165 --> 05:48.887 the US Army Corps of engineers 05:48.887 --> 05:51.339 recovered 19 guns from a 17 79 05:51.350 --> 05:53.517 shipwreck in Savannah , Georgia . They 05:53.517 --> 05:55.570 sent 17 of them to this facility in 05:55.579 --> 05:58.070 Texas to be conserved . Well , Texas A 05:58.079 --> 06:00.399 and M has a world class conservation 06:00.410 --> 06:03.589 lab for such sites . And so through a 06:03.600 --> 06:06.290 competitive contracting process , they 06:06.299 --> 06:08.885 were selected to do the conservation 06:08.894 --> 06:11.225 for this project . This facility is the 06:11.234 --> 06:13.345 conservation research laboratory . We 06:13.345 --> 06:15.345 call it the CRL . We are one of the 06:15.345 --> 06:18.304 larger and older conservation 06:18.315 --> 06:20.371 facilities that focuses on materials 06:20.371 --> 06:22.537 from underwater archaeological sites . 06:22.537 --> 06:24.537 There's not too many facilities out 06:24.537 --> 06:26.648 there that have the equipment and the 06:26.648 --> 06:28.815 expertise that we do any material that 06:28.815 --> 06:30.315 comes off of an underwater 06:30.315 --> 06:32.371 archaeological site or a terrestrial 06:32.371 --> 06:36.070 site we can conserve here . Restoring 06:36.079 --> 06:38.320 these cannons for display is a complex 06:38.329 --> 06:41.089 multi step process . The most urgent 06:41.100 --> 06:42.822 requirement is to put the iron 06:42.822 --> 06:44.767 artifacts into a special bath that 06:44.767 --> 06:46.933 removes salts and stabilizes the metal 06:48.970 --> 06:51.760 you . So what we're doing is we're 06:51.769 --> 06:53.769 taking the cannon and we're putting 06:53.769 --> 06:55.991 them into a vat filling the vat up with 06:55.991 --> 06:58.047 an electrolyte . In this case , it's 06:58.047 --> 07:00.158 sodium hydroxide and we're creating a 07:00.158 --> 07:02.549 circuit . So we're putting DC current 07:02.559 --> 07:04.890 into the cannon and then uh what it 07:04.899 --> 07:07.066 does is it pushes the salts out of the 07:07.066 --> 07:09.177 metal . It takes a really long time . 07:09.177 --> 07:11.869 Um upwards of it could be two years in 07:11.880 --> 07:14.158 some cases uh to get all the salts out , 07:14.158 --> 07:16.213 but it's an effective way to get the 07:16.213 --> 07:20.140 salts out . The Canon 07:20.149 --> 07:22.371 come out of the vats for a short time . 07:22.371 --> 07:24.427 So they can be unloaded . After more 07:24.427 --> 07:26.593 than 200 years underwater , there's no 07:26.593 --> 07:28.482 danger of the black powder inside 07:28.482 --> 07:30.705 exploding , but it's still important to 07:30.705 --> 07:32.649 remove the objects placed into the 07:32.649 --> 07:34.705 barrels before they were sunk . Step 07:34.705 --> 07:36.871 one is removing the wooden plug called 07:36.871 --> 07:38.927 a tamp that seals the opening . When 07:38.927 --> 07:42.174 these cannons sank , they were loaded 07:42.184 --> 07:44.406 and they still had a plug in the end of 07:44.406 --> 07:46.462 them . So these are still plugged up 07:46.462 --> 07:48.573 the way they were when they went down 07:48.573 --> 07:50.684 next , you need to pull out a lump of 07:50.684 --> 07:52.795 old ropes called the junk Wad , which 07:52.795 --> 07:55.017 sailors stuffed into the barrel to keep 07:55.017 --> 07:57.295 out moisture and keep their powder dry . 07:57.295 --> 07:59.462 Then if you're lucky , the cannonballs 07:59.462 --> 08:02.239 roll right out one or even two . This 08:02.250 --> 08:05.869 is a £6 cannonball and there's another 08:05.880 --> 08:08.480 one right behind it as per usual . Then 08:08.489 --> 08:10.570 another junk wad and finally , the 08:10.579 --> 08:12.890 remains of the bag of black powder all 08:12.899 --> 08:15.779 the way in the back . All the contents 08:15.790 --> 08:17.846 removed from the Canon are carefully 08:17.846 --> 08:19.679 measured and photographed by the 08:19.679 --> 08:21.734 archaeology students who work at the 08:21.734 --> 08:23.901 lab and each type of artifact requires 08:23.901 --> 08:26.068 its own special tender , loving care . 08:26.068 --> 08:28.179 Treating the paper for the charge bag 08:28.179 --> 08:29.901 for instance , is a completely 08:29.901 --> 08:29.820 different process than we have to do 08:29.829 --> 08:31.773 for the iron , different materials 08:31.773 --> 08:33.773 break down in seawater in different 08:33.773 --> 08:35.718 ways . The powder bags made of two 08:35.718 --> 08:38.289 century old paper are especially rare 08:38.450 --> 08:40.339 and required the team to create a 08:40.339 --> 08:42.630 custom conservation protocol . This is 08:42.640 --> 08:44.918 not something that survives very often . 08:44.918 --> 08:47.029 So we are really lucky on this . This 08:47.029 --> 08:49.084 is there's not very many examples of 08:49.084 --> 08:51.029 this note . So what we're doing is 08:51.029 --> 08:53.200 there between sheets of paper with 08:53.210 --> 08:55.266 blotting paper on top so we can do a 08:55.266 --> 08:56.599 slow , controlled dry . 09:00.229 --> 09:02.285 Elsewhere in the lab , archaeology , 09:02.285 --> 09:04.396 grad student , Alyssa carpenter and a 09:04.396 --> 09:06.562 colleague use a noisy pneumatic device 09:06.562 --> 09:08.562 called an air scribe to chisel away 09:08.562 --> 09:10.785 things that have stuck onto the outside 09:10.785 --> 09:12.729 of the cannon during the centuries 09:12.729 --> 09:14.729 submerged in the dark salty water . 09:14.729 --> 09:16.770 It's a really crazy feeling because 09:16.780 --> 09:18.947 when you get a cannon that hasn't been 09:18.947 --> 09:21.002 worked on , there are like mud globs 09:21.002 --> 09:23.224 over it , there's a lot of mollusks and 09:23.224 --> 09:25.447 biological activity . And so when we're 09:25.447 --> 09:27.613 scraping it with an air scribe or with 09:27.613 --> 09:29.836 a hammer and then you hit the surface . 09:29.836 --> 09:32.058 It's a crazy feeling because you're the 09:32.058 --> 09:34.169 first one to see the surface . And so 09:34.169 --> 09:36.336 we just keep doing that and we have no 09:36.336 --> 09:38.336 idea what we're going to find . And 09:38.336 --> 09:40.336 that's kind of like the joy of it . 09:40.336 --> 09:42.391 It's , smelly work from beginning to 09:42.391 --> 09:44.613 end . But the team members uncover more 09:44.613 --> 09:46.669 than just iron rope and paper . They 09:46.669 --> 09:48.891 also find a satisfaction that's hard to 09:48.891 --> 09:51.000 put into words . There . It is . 09:52.830 --> 09:55.669 Oh OK . Working on these cannons is 09:55.679 --> 09:57.900 kind of emotional because I am 09:57.909 --> 10:00.539 descendant , I , I'm a descendant from 10:00.770 --> 10:02.437 like people who fought in the 10:02.437 --> 10:04.659 revolutionary war in the South . And to 10:04.659 --> 10:06.770 me that's just crazy that I'm working 10:06.770 --> 10:08.881 on these cannons that they could have 10:08.881 --> 10:11.159 touched . It's just a whole experience , 10:11.159 --> 10:13.103 especially when you see the cannon 10:13.103 --> 10:15.159 balls and the junk wads roll out and 10:15.159 --> 10:14.659 you're the first one to hold them , 10:18.059 --> 10:20.960 starting to hiss . I remember when I 10:20.969 --> 10:23.880 was the first one , John took the 10:23.890 --> 10:26.112 cannonballs out and I just didn't think 10:26.119 --> 10:28.286 about it . I took them and I was gonna 10:28.286 --> 10:30.508 weigh them and then like walking to the 10:30.508 --> 10:32.341 scale , I had all this gunpowder 10:32.341 --> 10:34.452 dripping on my hands and I just stood 10:34.452 --> 10:36.341 there and my hands were shaking a 10:36.341 --> 10:38.563 little bit and I realized I'm the first 10:38.563 --> 10:40.675 one to hold these and weigh them on a 10:40.675 --> 10:42.590 scale . It's impossible to not be 10:42.599 --> 10:45.070 thrilled to be doing this kind of work . 10:45.080 --> 10:47.099 It's the ultimate behind the museum 10:47.109 --> 10:48.998 glass job , right ? We're getting 10:48.998 --> 10:51.165 everything secure . So when it goes to 10:51.165 --> 10:53.387 the museum , everyone can go and see it 10:53.387 --> 10:55.387 and enjoy it . Um But it's , it's a 10:55.387 --> 10:57.442 very satisfying feeling to know that 10:57.442 --> 10:59.276 you're the person that's helping 10:59.276 --> 11:01.553 preserve these for generations to come . 11:01.553 --> 11:05.500 It's , it's really cool . It will 11:05.510 --> 11:07.677 take another year or two to finish the 11:07.677 --> 11:09.677 work . Then these 17 cannon will be 11:09.677 --> 11:11.677 sent back to Georgia to be reunited 11:11.677 --> 11:14.000 with two un conserved guns already on 11:14.010 --> 11:16.690 exhibit at Savannah History Museum . In 11:16.700 --> 11:18.719 the meantime , archival research 11:18.729 --> 11:20.609 continues alongside the physical 11:20.619 --> 11:22.960 conservation efforts . It seems like 11:22.969 --> 11:25.136 every week or every month , you know , 11:25.136 --> 11:27.500 as we get more information , it reveals 11:27.510 --> 11:29.621 more and more about the site . It's a 11:29.621 --> 11:32.000 process , we're embracing it . We're 11:32.010 --> 11:34.650 enjoying the journey of uncovering 11:34.659 --> 11:36.715 whatever we can about this shipwreck 11:36.715 --> 11:38.492 reporting from the conservation 11:38.492 --> 11:40.159 research lab at Texas A and M 11:40.159 --> 11:42.381 University . I'm Michael Jordan for the 11:42.381 --> 11:44.381 US Army Corps of Engineers Savannah 11:44.381 --> 11:46.770 District . Yes , 11:50.710 --> 11:52.377 the Army Corps of Engineers , 11:52.377 --> 11:54.432 engineering research and Development 11:54.432 --> 11:56.488 Center is working to push the limits 11:56.488 --> 11:58.654 and capabilities of different types of 11:58.654 --> 12:00.766 materials . The center is researching 12:00.766 --> 12:02.766 the items to help and find the best 12:02.766 --> 12:04.988 possible solution for reinforcing aging 12:04.988 --> 12:06.710 facilities as well as the next 12:06.710 --> 12:08.932 generation of buildings and equipment . 12:08.932 --> 12:10.766 The focus area of my group is to 12:10.766 --> 12:14.440 synthesize noble and affordable to 12:14.450 --> 12:17.369 the material systems including graphene 12:17.380 --> 12:20.750 related materials and determine their 12:20.760 --> 12:23.070 structure , property processing 12:23.080 --> 12:25.859 relationships and optimize those to be 12:25.869 --> 12:28.770 able to obtain the best performing 12:28.780 --> 12:32.619 materials as a chemist , uh my hands 12:32.630 --> 12:36.380 are in a wide range of research topics 12:36.690 --> 12:40.039 from uh concrete hydration modeling to 12:40.049 --> 12:42.780 advanced composite to uh modular 12:42.789 --> 12:46.770 protective systems and two D material 12:46.780 --> 12:49.090 systems including graphene related 12:49.099 --> 12:53.049 material . At all of our applications 12:53.059 --> 12:55.799 are to benefit both civilian and the 12:55.809 --> 12:58.409 military side . It's really incredible . 12:58.820 --> 13:02.359 So in terms of military , uh we have 13:02.369 --> 13:04.710 army modernization priorities and 13:04.719 --> 13:08.400 priority research . So my work uh 13:08.409 --> 13:11.630 directly relates to all those areas . 13:11.640 --> 13:13.751 And in addition , we have a number of 13:13.751 --> 13:15.751 civilian applications going on from 13:15.751 --> 13:17.700 water filtration to military 13:17.710 --> 13:21.549 application . So it all ties into um 13:21.559 --> 13:24.780 all those areas nicely in terms of the 13:24.789 --> 13:27.690 applications of all this work can be 13:27.700 --> 13:29.367 counted in a number of ways . 13:29.367 --> 13:32.039 Infrastructure is the big one because 13:32.049 --> 13:34.409 we have structures aging that need to 13:34.419 --> 13:37.150 be addressed . And we also need to have 13:37.159 --> 13:39.219 resilient infrastructures for our 13:39.229 --> 13:41.840 future . So those are extremely 13:41.849 --> 13:44.390 important for us . The other one is in 13:44.400 --> 13:47.460 the advanced composite area . So we try 13:47.469 --> 13:49.890 to come up with what is the true 13:49.900 --> 13:52.369 interaction between different layers , 13:52.380 --> 13:54.520 let's say multi layers , how can we 13:54.530 --> 13:57.210 enhance those for specific applications 13:57.219 --> 13:59.200 geared towards either military or 13:59.210 --> 14:02.390 civilian use ? The infrastructure 14:02.400 --> 14:06.109 includes buildings , bridges , 14:06.119 --> 14:09.630 roads , all those asphalt payments , uh 14:09.640 --> 14:12.400 Any type of structure we used for our 14:12.409 --> 14:14.679 daily lives as civilians or the 14:14.690 --> 14:17.190 structures that need to be used for 14:17.270 --> 14:20.030 military purposes . So is trying to 14:20.039 --> 14:23.549 identify what areas deserve the most 14:23.559 --> 14:26.989 research . It's also important for us 14:27.359 --> 14:29.359 to be able to come up with the most 14:29.359 --> 14:33.020 novel affordable materials . So we 14:33.030 --> 14:37.010 can improve the impact of 14:37.020 --> 14:39.440 graphene addition into our seit 14:40.039 --> 14:43.429 matrices compared to just regular 14:43.510 --> 14:45.570 concrete er coastal and hydraulic 14:45.580 --> 14:47.950 laboratory is home to us a ship 14:47.960 --> 14:50.369 simulator which is used to evaluate bay 14:50.380 --> 14:52.539 channels across the globe and assist 14:52.549 --> 14:54.605 with planning out ship movements for 14:54.605 --> 14:56.160 proposed navigation channel 14:56.160 --> 14:58.409 improvements . Recently , the team has 14:58.419 --> 15:00.308 developed a mobile version of the 15:00.308 --> 15:02.419 simulator for military applications . 15:03.380 --> 15:05.324 Tom mckinnon and I came down for a 15:05.324 --> 15:08.460 visit in about 2015 and wanted to know 15:08.469 --> 15:10.691 if the ship simulator could be used for 15:10.691 --> 15:12.913 military applications . And it's been a 15:12.913 --> 15:15.025 huge success . We now have a facility 15:15.025 --> 15:17.270 that's at the secret level . We can do 15:17.280 --> 15:19.336 all types of amphibious landings and 15:19.336 --> 15:21.391 assault operations . And we actually 15:21.391 --> 15:23.640 bring in operators from the military to 15:23.650 --> 15:25.872 actually drive the simulator , which is 15:25.872 --> 15:27.983 very important . It gives us feedback 15:27.983 --> 15:30.094 on how well the simulator behaves in 15:30.104 --> 15:33.104 real life . And we get uh really good 15:33.114 --> 15:35.354 feedback for our employees on how we 15:35.364 --> 15:37.705 can move forward uh with the operations 15:37.715 --> 15:39.771 that we do . We decided that we were 15:39.771 --> 15:41.715 going to turn around and provide a 15:41.715 --> 15:43.826 portable ship simulator capability to 15:43.826 --> 15:45.695 the army watercraft and the dod 15:45.705 --> 15:47.816 watercraft community writ large to be 15:47.816 --> 15:49.761 able to provide mission analysis , 15:49.761 --> 15:51.594 mission preparedness in terms of 15:51.594 --> 15:53.816 mission planning and then to do mission 15:53.816 --> 15:56.039 rehearsal to determine the feasibility 15:56.049 --> 15:58.500 of the particular operation and to be 15:58.510 --> 16:00.621 able to measure its success both from 16:00.621 --> 16:02.677 an operator perspective , as well as 16:02.677 --> 16:04.732 from a commander's perspective . The 16:04.732 --> 16:06.843 particular event that we were able to 16:06.843 --> 16:08.788 participate here , the my picks 23 16:08.788 --> 16:11.010 these types of events provide to a much 16:11.010 --> 16:13.177 larger audience that we would normally 16:13.177 --> 16:15.399 be able to do by going to an individual 16:15.399 --> 16:17.621 unit . My goal here and the goal of the 16:17.621 --> 16:17.385 team to turn around and take the 16:17.395 --> 16:19.617 capability and understanding the forces 16:19.617 --> 16:21.839 from the physical environment . Whether 16:21.839 --> 16:23.673 that's tide , whether that's the 16:23.673 --> 16:25.617 current wind wave , uh the terrain 16:25.617 --> 16:27.839 itself , what we're doing is giving the 16:27.839 --> 16:30.062 opportunity to assess , hey , you gotta 16:30.062 --> 16:32.284 go do this mission and give me to go to 16:32.284 --> 16:31.934 assess . Can I actually make the 16:31.945 --> 16:33.955 mission occur within the parameters 16:33.965 --> 16:36.021 that have been defined in getting to 16:36.021 --> 16:38.021 meet all these different people and 16:38.021 --> 16:40.132 hearing their comments on how helpful 16:40.132 --> 16:42.489 this would be for them . Uh is , is 16:42.500 --> 16:46.140 really good for us to take back to um 16:46.500 --> 16:48.739 where we build these scenarios and can 16:48.750 --> 16:51.869 help them accomplish what they need to 16:51.880 --> 16:54.102 accomplish , to protect our country and 16:54.102 --> 16:56.880 to keep them safe and where whatever 16:56.890 --> 16:59.630 part of the world they're in , um , is , 16:59.640 --> 17:01.751 is really good . So really what makes 17:01.751 --> 17:03.973 the artic unique is , is the people . I 17:03.973 --> 17:06.599 mean , you can walk into variety of 17:06.609 --> 17:08.720 simulators throughout the country and 17:08.720 --> 17:10.609 the equipment's gonna look fairly 17:10.609 --> 17:12.665 similar , but it's the people , it's 17:12.665 --> 17:12.369 the lens they look through . So you , 17:12.380 --> 17:15.910 you from the engineers like myself or 17:15.920 --> 17:18.670 the , the computer scientist , in 17:18.680 --> 17:20.569 addition to we have an amphibious 17:20.569 --> 17:22.680 warfare expert . So you bring those , 17:22.680 --> 17:24.569 those entities together and those 17:24.569 --> 17:26.680 experts , that's what really provides 17:26.680 --> 17:28.847 the value because you , you know , the 17:28.847 --> 17:30.902 equipment is gonna be the same , but 17:30.902 --> 17:32.958 it's actually the analysis after the 17:32.958 --> 17:35.124 fact that you get in , in the words of 17:35.124 --> 17:37.069 a , a recent visit , Arctic , it's 17:37.069 --> 17:38.958 gonna help make our soldiers more 17:38.958 --> 17:41.180 lethal and it's also gonna make sure we 17:41.180 --> 17:40.819 can bring more of them home alive . 17:40.829 --> 17:42.885 Simulators are great because you can 17:42.885 --> 17:45.162 throw all kinds of things at them . Uh , 17:45.162 --> 17:47.329 that may be not available that day for 17:47.329 --> 17:49.607 weather . Maybe you're gonna say , hey , 17:49.607 --> 17:51.829 we're in really bad sea states , but we 17:51.829 --> 17:53.773 can actually dial that in here and 17:53.773 --> 17:56.051 actually do it for real simulator . Um , 17:56.051 --> 17:57.829 so I think it's overall a great 17:57.829 --> 18:00.051 planning tool and we make a lot of , of 18:00.051 --> 18:02.329 fairy dust assumptions sometimes about , 18:02.540 --> 18:04.596 uh , you know , it'll take 21 days , 18:04.596 --> 18:06.762 we're gonna be ashore and everything's 18:06.762 --> 18:08.762 gonna be assure . I think this is a 18:08.762 --> 18:10.873 great , um , session because I had no 18:10.873 --> 18:13.096 idea this kind of tool existed . So I , 18:13.096 --> 18:15.262 I don't know if other people did , you 18:15.262 --> 18:17.429 know in the actual military . But um I 18:17.429 --> 18:19.596 think that it was really beneficial to 18:19.596 --> 18:21.707 get this kind of information out that 18:21.707 --> 18:23.762 either the military or organizations 18:23.762 --> 18:25.929 like mine can use to help the military 18:25.929 --> 18:28.096 do their planning and modeling and not 18:28.096 --> 18:30.151 recreate the wheel of something that 18:30.151 --> 18:32.262 already exists . This is the start of 18:32.262 --> 18:34.318 any operation on that beach . What I 18:34.318 --> 18:36.429 like about this is that you , you had 18:36.429 --> 18:36.160 different weather conditions in there . 18:36.170 --> 18:38.170 So right now you got rain with like 18:38.170 --> 18:40.503 probably 3 ft 5 ft waves and , you know , 18:40.503 --> 18:42.503 you know , cross winds or whatnot , 18:42.503 --> 18:44.670 which you really don't want to do that 18:44.670 --> 18:46.781 in a training scenario if you do that 18:46.781 --> 18:48.670 in a simulator . And now you have 18:48.729 --> 18:52.130 training perspective on , on , you know , 18:52.140 --> 18:54.251 weather conditions , you know , which 18:54.251 --> 18:56.307 you really won't get out out there . 18:56.307 --> 18:56.219 And that's gonna be very , very hard 18:56.300 --> 18:58.680 hopeful for folks that just won't get 18:58.689 --> 19:00.800 that opportunity . It does give me an 19:00.800 --> 19:03.829 opportunity to see what other ways to 19:03.839 --> 19:06.109 test , you know , to experience and 19:06.119 --> 19:08.452 participate in those operation planning , 19:08.452 --> 19:12.439 planning uh scenarios . So 19:12.449 --> 19:14.760 when we do have a , an actual scenario , 19:14.770 --> 19:16.881 we know how to practice it , exercise 19:16.881 --> 19:19.048 it and stuff like that , which is very 19:19.048 --> 19:21.048 important and a lot of people won't 19:21.048 --> 19:23.381 know what's out there unless , you know , 19:23.381 --> 19:25.326 you attend conferences like this , 19:25.326 --> 19:27.381 every operation , regardless whether 19:27.381 --> 19:29.869 it's a , a combat environment or non 19:29.880 --> 19:33.349 hostile environment , uh or you will 19:33.359 --> 19:36.270 have casualties , you know , accidents 19:36.280 --> 19:38.447 happen , especially when you're moving 19:38.447 --> 19:40.613 ship to shore movement . There's a lot 19:40.613 --> 19:43.500 of safety situations involved . So yes , 19:43.510 --> 19:45.900 again , this scenario , this simulator 19:45.910 --> 19:48.939 can contribute to that . It does give 19:48.949 --> 19:51.510 you a different perspective on how to 19:51.520 --> 19:53.770 conduct planning . It does allow you to 19:53.780 --> 19:56.290 do , you know , in your mind , 19:57.380 --> 20:00.479 observe the scenario and uh come up 20:00.489 --> 20:02.579 with different courses of actions on 20:02.589 --> 20:04.819 how to implement the certain scenario 20:04.829 --> 20:06.940 that you're trying to solve . Uh This 20:06.940 --> 20:09.989 is a great opportunity for vessel 20:10.000 --> 20:12.222 masters and crews to be able to kind of 20:12.222 --> 20:14.239 get a real world picture of an area 20:14.250 --> 20:16.361 that they're gonna be going to . It's 20:16.361 --> 20:18.579 portable so this can go anywhere . So 20:18.589 --> 20:21.939 we're uh we have vessels all around the 20:21.949 --> 20:24.116 world , we're emissions all around the 20:24.116 --> 20:25.949 world . There's a big difference 20:25.949 --> 20:28.060 between here in Hawaii , Hawaii . You 20:28.060 --> 20:30.227 have a lot of the trade winds . It's a 20:30.227 --> 20:32.393 predominantly windy area . So a vessel 20:32.393 --> 20:34.560 master or crew coming from Virginia 20:34.569 --> 20:36.569 where , you know , the wind usually 20:36.569 --> 20:38.736 isn't too bad . It's not a big um it's 20:38.736 --> 20:40.847 not a big factor that we have to deal 20:40.847 --> 20:42.791 with when docking or undocking the 20:42.791 --> 20:45.013 vessel , then you go to Hawaii . It's a 20:45.013 --> 20:47.013 whole new experience . So utilizing 20:47.013 --> 20:46.569 this , they can get the training and 20:46.579 --> 20:48.412 experience that without actually 20:48.412 --> 20:50.523 putting in any equipment or personnel 20:50.523 --> 20:53.670 in harm's way unmanned aerial systems 20:53.680 --> 20:56.099 or as some may call them , drones have 20:56.109 --> 20:58.220 become a major advancement for the US 20:58.220 --> 21:00.479 Army Corps of Engineers , whether it is 21:00.489 --> 21:02.630 for surveying beaches , creating 3d 21:02.640 --> 21:05.150 models of existing facilities or simply 21:05.160 --> 21:07.327 some really cool aerial imagery of our 21:07.327 --> 21:09.380 projects . The US teams at Usace 21:09.530 --> 21:11.430 continue to use platforms to help 21:11.439 --> 21:13.780 reduce cost and increase safety in 21:13.790 --> 21:16.589 gathering vital data and imagery . The 21:16.599 --> 21:18.821 Sacramento District takes us behind the 21:18.821 --> 21:20.988 scenes of their program and the strict 21:20.988 --> 21:23.160 regulations that they must abide by . 21:28.500 --> 21:30.829 This is Luke burns a remote pilot with 21:30.839 --> 21:32.672 the US Army Corps of Engineers . 21:32.672 --> 21:35.439 Aviation team today , Luke navigates a 21:35.449 --> 21:37.282 small unmanned aircraft over the 21:37.282 --> 21:39.171 American River , capturing aerial 21:39.171 --> 21:40.782 footage of the ongoing levee 21:40.782 --> 21:43.005 improvements . This substantial federal 21:43.005 --> 21:45.116 infrastructure project is designed to 21:45.116 --> 21:47.338 fortify flood defenses for the adjacent 21:47.338 --> 21:49.449 communities in Sacramento . However , 21:49.449 --> 21:51.171 piloting for the Army Corps of 21:51.171 --> 21:53.393 Engineers isn't simply about choosing a 21:53.393 --> 21:55.282 good spot and taking to the air . 22:02.949 --> 22:04.838 These infrastructure projects are 22:04.838 --> 22:07.060 funded by Congress and partner agencies 22:07.060 --> 22:09.280 and taxpayers . So pilots like Luke 22:09.290 --> 22:11.068 shoulder an additional layer of 22:11.068 --> 22:13.012 responsibility , they are bound by 22:13.012 --> 22:14.957 stringent local airspace , federal 22:14.957 --> 22:16.790 Aviation Administration and army 22:16.790 --> 22:20.459 aviation regulations in preparing for 22:20.469 --> 22:22.636 this mission . Luke meticulously built 22:22.636 --> 22:24.747 a mission plan assessing the airspace 22:24.747 --> 22:26.469 for potential impact to nearby 22:26.469 --> 22:28.636 structures like airports , schools and 22:28.636 --> 22:30.800 homes . Additionally , he performs a 22:30.810 --> 22:32.849 daily risk assessment . Maintains a 22:32.859 --> 22:35.410 flight log reviews a safety checklist 22:35.439 --> 22:37.495 and thoroughly inspects the aircraft 22:37.495 --> 22:39.717 before flight yet . Luke isn't alone in 22:39.717 --> 22:42.140 this . Every army corps of engineers 22:42.150 --> 22:44.372 unmanned aerial mission requires a team 22:44.372 --> 22:46.594 of at least two crew members , a remote 22:46.594 --> 22:48.719 pilot and a visual observer . Though 22:48.729 --> 22:50.951 the flight process and requirements may 22:50.951 --> 22:52.896 seem intensive , it is necessary . 22:53.089 --> 22:54.867 These are big projects with far 22:54.867 --> 22:56.978 reaching impacts , ultimately serving 22:56.978 --> 23:00.430 our communities and the nation . The US 23:00.439 --> 23:02.550 Army Corps of Engineers Aviation team 23:02.550 --> 23:04.719 is committed to flying legally safely 23:04.729 --> 23:07.040 and effectively to delve deeper into 23:07.050 --> 23:08.883 our program and watch the latest 23:08.883 --> 23:10.717 captivating aerial videos of our 23:10.717 --> 23:12.883 projects . Please visit our website or 23:12.883 --> 23:13.883 social media 23:26.339 --> 23:28.709 that completes this episode of core 23:28.719 --> 23:30.750 connection . So as the warm summer 23:30.760 --> 23:32.871 breezes fade and the kids are back to 23:32.871 --> 23:35.800 school , remember us continues to serve 23:35.810 --> 23:38.500 our nation and its war fighters until 23:38.510 --> 23:40.959 next time . This has been core 23:40.969 --> 23:41.709 connection .