Coastal engineers at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District are learning how an online model can help them design and build better structures to protect harbors across lakes Erie and Ontario.
Why it matters: With more shoreline than any other U.S. coast, infrastructure and property along the Great Lakes takes a beating from waves every year – especially in winter.
Understanding exactly how waves interact with wave-damping structures like breakwaters can help engineers make them more effective, saving time, resources, and taxpayer dollars.
What’s new: Scientists from the USACE Engineer Research and Development Center are teaching Buffalo District engineers how the FUNWAVE model can be used to defend the Great Lakes shoreline: https://cirp.usace.army.mil/products/funwave.php
- FUNWAVE is a numerical wave model Buffalo District engineers can use to rapidly screen different design options, even when climate conditions are uncertain.
- ERDC centralized and cloud-based FUNWAVE, giving engineers across the country easy access to subject-matter expertise and Department of Defense supercomputing power to solve problems for local communities faster than ever: https://www.hpc.mil/
Learn more:
- FUNWAVE is part of ERDC’s Coastal Inlets Research Program and funded by their Civil Works research program: https://www.erdc.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/
- USACE launched a five-year Great Lakes Coastal Resiliency Study in June 2023: https://www.lrd.usace.army.mil/Great-Lakes-Coastal-Resiliency-Study/
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