Recent Grants

The US Army Engineer Research & Development Center (ERDC) is responsible for conducting research in the broad fields of hydraulics, dredging, coastal engineering, instrumentation, oceanography, remote sensing, geotechnical engineering, earthquake engineering, soil effects, vehicle mobility, self-contained munitions, military engineering, geophysics, pavements, protective structures, aquatic plants, water quality, dredged material, treatment of hazardous waste, wetlands, physical/mechanical/ chemical properties of snow and other frozen precipitation, infrastructure and environmental issues for installations, computer science, telecommunications management, energy, facilities maintenance, materials and structures, engineering processes, environmental processes, land and heritage conservation, and ecological processes. This research is conducted by Government personnel and by contract with educational institutions, non-profit organizations and private industries.

The ERDC Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) will support basic and applied research that part of development not related to the development of a specific system or hardware procurement. Projects may be submitted for the following ERDC Centers -

• Coastal and Hydraulics Laboratory. Research is performed in the areas of hydraulic structures such as locks, dams, outlet works, control gates, stilling basins, spillways, channels, fish handling systems, and pumping stations, flood control channels; navigation channels; riverine and estuarine hydrodynamics and transport processes; groundwater; hydrology; dredging-related equipment; and on coastal problems related to shoreline protection; beach erosion; navigation; sedimentation; inlet stabilization; and construction, operation and maintenance of coastal structures (breakwater, jetties, groins, seawalls, etc.). Major areas of interest include coastal hydrodynamics (wind waves, tides, currents, wind related water levels); coastal sedimentation (longshore transport, inlet sedimentation); coastal geology and geomorphology; design and stability of coastal structures; erosion and storm reduction potential of natural and nature-based features; system optimization methods and performance metrics for coastal operations; coastal resiliency; and interaction of structures and coastal processes. Other activities include descriptions of coastal processes; theoretical studies; watershed and regional sediment and water systems studies; numerical and physical model techniques; data collection and analysis techniques; development of laboratory and prototype instrumentation and equipment
• Geo-technical and Structures Laboratory. performs research, development and testing in many areas such as: soil mechanics, foundation design, slope stability, seepage analysis, pavements (both expedient and permanent), rock mechanics, engineering geology and geophysics, earthquake engineering, vehicle mobility and trafficability, structural dynamics, explosion and weapon effects, survivability, earth dynamics, construction materials, impact of high-velocity projectiles, development of methods for installation of fixed installation camouflage, concealment and deception, and design and analysis of structures to resist static and dynamic loading. The Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory is equipped to perform any type of laboratory testing, including centrifuge applications, needed to assist in the types of research described herein. 
• Environmental Laboratory. Research is performed in the areas of Environmental Sensing; Contaminated Site Characterization, Assessment and Remediation; Sediment Geochemistry and Biological Effects; Environment and Water Quality Monitoring; Conservation; Environmental Criteria for Stream Channel Alteration Projects; Natural Resource Management; Environmental Chemistry; Water Quality and Ecological Systems; Outdoor Recreation; and Risk and Decision Science
• Information Technology Laboratory Research is performed in the areas of computer-aided interdisciplinary engineering, computer-aided design and drafting, building information modeling, computer-aided facilities management, computer science, high performance computing, advanced computer security, generalpurpose computing, and sensor and instrumentation systems. 
• Construction Engineering Research Laboratory Research is performed in the areas of Advanced Manufacturing/Construction Methods and Designs for Deployed Soldier Infrastructure; Using Indigenous Materials Resources for Construction Innovative semi-Permanent Military Construction in Austere Environment; Innovative Energy Efficiency and Energy Security Initiatives; Fuel Cell Technology Advancements; Contingency Basecamp Operational Energy; Autonomous Robotic Solutions for Engineer Operations in the Deployed Environment; Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) Composites for Infrastructure Applications; Innovative Corrosion Control; Electro-osmotic Technology for Water and Chemical Containment; Integrated Water Security for DOD Installations; Critical Infrastructure Protection for Utility Systems; Infrastructure Management, Facilities Maintenance; Modeling and Simulation/Analysis tools for Infrastructure Applications; and Innovative Coating Systems and Applications.
• Cold Regions and Engineering Laboratory. Research is performed in the areas of Signature physics, terrestrial and cryospheric sciences, biogeochemical processes, environmental fate and transport geochemistry, force projection and sustainment, cold regions infrastructure, water resources/geospatial applications and hydrology and hydraulics.
• Geospatial Research Laboratory (GRL).  GRL has applied its expertise to the needs of homeland defense and the global war on terrorism. These technologies and their related research, operations, and systems development activities, essential to the Army in accomplishing its global mission, include the following:
  • Timely acquisition, fusing, analysis, display, and dissemination of remotely sensed multi- sourced information depicting imagery, features, elevation, and other information essential to accurately describe the land warrior battle space.
  • The development of geographic information software that enables reliable, efficient, and secure information management, interoperability and accessibility for various user communities operating globally, each with different needs.
  • The development of globally fielded applications and systems for acquiring, accessing, fusing, and delivering terrain and feature information to the soldier.
  • The development of accurate on-the-fly global positioning systems for use with inertial guidance as essential positioning engines for acquiring near real time, dynamic, high- accuracy, remotely sensed 3-d terrain and feature information.
  • The development of increasingly compact, more efficient, and more comprehensive applications and systems aimed at providing low echelon combat units with information in near-real-time, enabling rapid response to developing situations in any battle space.
  • The development of new and innovative techniques to understand and visualize terrain and battle space information in all dimensions, and to accommodate reasoning within analytical results.
  • The development of accurate and efficient survey and mapping systems for use by both military and civil communities.
  • Capabilities in acquisition, testing and fielding of topographic systems; advanced and engineering development of imagery systems; and research and development in the areas of imagery and intelligence data exploitation.
  • Operational capabilities in geospatial information and imagery requirements development; terrain, hydrologic, and environmental analysis; and information services.  

The ERDC supports conferences and symposia in special areas of science that bring experts together to discuss recent research or educational findings or to expose other researchers or advanced graduate students to new research and educational techniques.