Colorado State University assists Corps in overtopping tests

FORT COLLINS, CO, UNITED STATES

09.13.2012

Courtesy Story

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - The Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District, is working with Colorado State University to test erosion rates of Florida grass and soil as part of levee designs for water impoundment areas in South Florida.

Wave, after wave, rolls over trays of Florida sod and soil at Colorado State University’s Wave Overtopping Simulator in Fort Collins, Colo.

Engineering Graduate students at the school are working with the Corps of Engineers’ Jacksonville district to test the performance of Florida grass and soil when water overtops levees during a hurricane.

“We are looking at the erode-ability of different soil types in South Florida based on conditions we would have in South Florida during hurricanes; the soil types and the grass type that we would grow there,” said Elizabeth Landowski, a geotechnical engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville district.

The tests give the Corps a more realistic view of conditions they would see during hurricanes, current levee designs are based on those seen in the North Sea, which engineers say doesn’t truly fit the needs for South Florida, and only drive up construction costs.

“Our storms are different and the only guidance we have now is way too conservative, we feel, so we are out here testing to prove that,” said Melissa Reynolds, and environmental engineer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville district.

“Ultimately the goal is to provide optimization to our embankments, and to optimize the costs that we would have incur if we needed to increase the embankment, versus allowing the embankment to be a little lower and have a certain type of erosion control on the back side,” Landowski said.

Engineers believe the testing will allow them to design and construct exactly what is needed for their requirements, versus constructing structures overdesigned for different types of storms. In the end it means costs savings and better design.

“We are trying to figure out what would be the most cost effective while ensuring public safety,” Landowski said.

“The higher we go, every half foot is a lot of money. So that is we need to optimize it,” Reynolds said.

“By doing this testing we are looking at saving the tax payers millions of dollars in construction costs on these embankments,” Landowski said.

From Fort Collins, Colo., (Natural Sound Pop - Water) Patrick Bloodgood.

• Date Taken: 09.13.2012
• Date Posted: 09.21.2012 10:24
• Story ID: 95096
• Location: FORT COLLINS, CO, US