How Hurricane Katrina influenced the design of hurricane protection and risk reduction systems and national approaches to risk and resilience. Part 2: Designing the Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System and resulting long-term engineering guidance and practice changes

Following Hurricane Katrina, the US Army Corps of Engineers, supported in part by the risk and reliability analysis conducted by the Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force (IPET), made a major shift from ‘protection’ to ‘risk reduction’ as the principal goal in flood mitigation. The mitigation of the flood risk in Southeast Louisiana was embodied in the design and construction of the ‘Hurricane and Storm Damage Risk Reduction System’, the post-Katrina initiative for New Orleans flood mitigation. It also spawned a major overhaul of many of the Corps of Engineers’ technical guidance and engineering practice documents, incorporating risk as a key measure in the planning and design processes. The criteria applied for the design of the HSDRRS are discussed, with summaries of the associated major changes in Corps engineering guidance and practice relevant to flood mitigation.

Building Information Modelling Usage in Federal Hydropower Design and Construction Management

The use of Building Information Modeling (BIM) is widespread within the engineering and construction industry, with huge strides in both usage and technological advances in the past two decades. The benefits of design collaboration, communication, visualization, and risk mitigation are untold. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers foresaw the benefits of BIM and began to write policy for its mandatory use across the enterprise in the early 2000s. As BIM technology evolved, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has struggled to keep pace with the speed of industry but continue to make improvements to policy and more widespread usage across the enterprise. The MILCON program sees widespread use in the planning and design phases using BIM for visualization, communication, creation of 2D construction drawings, and rough estimating. BIM usage stops short in two major areas of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers work: hydropower rehabilitation and construction management. Professionals from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in design management, hydropower engineering, and construction management all agreed that BIM, utilized and implemented properly, can have a very strong impact in each major field that would improve efficiencies, aid stakeholders in better understanding of complicated design concepts, and realize a more streamlined construction management process for complicated hydropower work. Through literature review and interviews with construction professionals, this research studied how BIM is being used within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, specifically within hydropower rehabilitation programs, for design and construction management. This research also focused on how private industry has been and is currently using BIM in construction management, and to correlate how processes used in private industry may be used on hydropower generation unit rehabilitation projects at USACE-owned facilities.

Misremembering risk in the age of hurricanes: The Rhode Island Coast in the 1930s–1950s

This paper explores the lost history of New England hurricanes and how the “return” of hurricanes challenged understandings of the vulnerabilities of coastal communities due to weather. A series of severe New England hurricanes from 1938 to 1954 forced Rhode Islanders to reassess coastal vulnerabilities and protection strategies. Before the hurricane of ‘38, Rhode Islanders lived with the vulnerability of seasonal erosion and winter storms but believed their state was, and would remain, safe from hurricanes. In a new era of the shore-at-risk, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers re-wrote the forgotten history of coastal dangers. Dense development along Narragansett Bay and the economic incentives to safeguard Providence, Rhode Island’s largest city, led state and federal authorities to address the environmental vulnerabilities wrought by hurricanes. The result was the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ pathbreaking analysis of the tidal dynamics of Narragansett Bay. Investigating human responses to coastal environmental threats, this paper reveals the political and engineering histories that attempted to reconcile hurricanes, risk, and coastal vulnerability in the state at mid-century.

Mobile Harbor, Alabama navigation study : ship simulation report

Mobile Bay is a large estuary located in the southwest corner of Alabama, which connects to the Gulf of Mexico. Mobile Harbor contains the only port in the state that supports ocean-going vessels. Some of the larger vessels calling on the port experience transit delays and limited cargo capacity, so a study was conducted by the US Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District (CESAM), and the Alabama State Port Authority to investigate channel improvements. In 2017, the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) assisted CESAM in screening proposed deepening and widening alternatives in Mobile Bay by completing a Feasibility Level Ship Simulation (FLSS) study using the ERDC Ship/Tow Simulator. These lower-resolution databases from the FLSS study were used as a foundation to complete a more robust navigation study in 2020 to test the proposed modifications to Mobile Harbor. During this study, three main areas were focused on: a bend easing, a passing lane, and a turning basin. Testing of the proposed design was evaluated over the course of 2 weeks with eight pilots. Assessment of the proposed modifications was accomplished through analysis of ship simulations completed by experienced local pilots, discussions, track plots, run sheets, and final pilot surveys.

A bathymetric study of the forebay at the Old River Low Sill Structure from 1963 to 2019

The purpose of this study is to use historical hydrographic surveys to quantify bathymetric changes in the forebay channel area of ORLSS over the last 56 yr. The results from this comparison support an ongoing geotechnical study led by Mr. Lucas Walshire, U.S. Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New Orleans District (USACE MVN).

Capacity Building of Bangladesh Army Corps of Engineers in Nation Building Projects:

Bangladesh Army Corps of Engineers contributes to various nation-building projects of Bangladesh where Engineering Construction Battalions (ECBs) play the lead role. Besides performing its regular job, ECBs at present day are greatly involved in various complex projects which put additional pressure on their existing capacity. Keeping this in mind, the major objective of this study is to analyze the contribution of ECBs in nation-building projects with their existing workforce and equipment . The key research objective of this paper is to show how capacity building of Bangladesh Army Corps of Engineers can enable them to contribute more in nation-building projects. This study is based on content analysis of mostly secondary material. To substantiate this, a small quantity of Interviews, Focus Group Discussions and Case Study were also carried out. The findings identified that ECBs are not self-sufficient enough to implement any nation-building projects without subcontracting with their existing manpower and equipment. Due to the simultaneous involvement of ECBs in regular as well as diversified nation-building projects, capacity building of ECBs is often overlooked which does not enable them to equip for future projects and higher requirements in the construction sector. Based on the findings of the research, it was recommended that ECBs may arrange regular capacity building for their personnel to equip them well.

Brunswick Harbor numerical model

The Brunswick area consists of many acres of estuarine and marsh environments. The US Army Corps of Engineers District, Savannah, requested that the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory, develop a validated Adaptive Hydraulics model and assist in using it to perform hydrodynamic modeling of proposed navigation channel modifications. The modeling results are necessary to provide data for ship simulation. The model setup and validation are presented here.

Hydraulic dike effects investigation on the Mississippi River : Natchez to Baton Rouge

This report documents an investigation of the hydraulic effects of dikes on water levels in the Mississippi River between Natchez, MS, and Baton Rouge, LA, conducted for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mississippi Valley Division, Vicksburg, MS. The investigation was conducted using a previously calibrated Natchez-to-Baton Rouge Adaptive Hydraulics numerical model. The objectives were to alter roughness and height variables associated with the dikes and overbanks encompassed in the numerical model and evaluate their effects on water surface elevations. This academic exercise provides an indication of the relative level of impact associated with modifications to the dikes and overbanks for this portion of the Mississippi River and does not represent future plans or recommendations by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Steady flow simulations were simulated for 12 May 2011 to investigate the variation in model results during the peak of the 2011 flood on the Mississippi River.