The Corps Of Engineers Military Ocean Engineering Related Program

The Corps of Engineers, CE, has a long and varied history of research and development (R&D) in military/ civil ocean engineering. Model tests were performed of floating breakwaters used during the Normandy invasion, investigations have been made of military harbors, and designs have been prepared for breakwaters and jetties. The CE has had a key role in numerous joint studies with the Navy of underwater explosive cratering, investigations of explosion generated water waves, shock propagation and bottom reflection in shallow water, underwater POL storage, logistical support over the shore in theater operations, and port development. Ongoing efforts related to military ocean engineering include studies to minimize navigation channel shoaling; investigations of dredging requirements in coastal channels; hurricane, tsunami and storm surge flooding; and numerical directional spectral wave climatologies. Emerging technologies include development of reliable and quantitative theoretical descriptions of wave-wave interactions that result in a much improved estimation of the directional spectral wave climate. With this emerging technology, when coupled with the National Weather Service´s forecast capability, it is conceptually possible to forecast wave, current, and water level conditions and the response of ships to these conditions. Although the basic technology is available; a concentrated multiyear development effort is required for such forecasts to become an operational reality. Experimental technology to accurately investigate directional spectral waves in the laboratory and to perform more advanced studies of breakwaters and harbors and their response to directional spectral waves is rapidly developing. Evolving instrumentation technology for measuring the directional spectrum, currents in the surf zone, sediment concentrations and bathymetric modifications will soon provide us a new set of prototype data from which we will gain a vastly improved comprehension- of dynamic nearshore coastal processes. The last and perhaps most important emerging technology is remote sensing. Considerable research and development is required to realize the full potential of remote sensing to specific coastal/ocean engineering projects, but its potential is far-reaching. Remote sensing is the only viable method for obtaining synoptic ocean measurements worldwide. The CE program related to military ocean engineering is almost totally funded from civil works research and development programs which have no military related objectives. Recent concentrated efforts by the CE in actively promoting and successfully culminating interagency and international cooperative research and development projects is enabling us to obtain an improved quality and increased quantity of research products for a smaller investment. The emerging technological spinoffs from our civil works research and development program are an outstanding example of the synergistic benefit gained by military ocean engineering for no direct investment of funds. Conversely, the civil works ocean engineering program benefits directly from output of the Navy´s military ocean engineering R&D.