Current News Releases
Feb. 21, 2008
NSF awards $2.5 million to university for research on levee and dam failure
A $2.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation to the University of South Carolina's College of Engineering and Computing will support an international, collaborative research effort on levee breach and dam failure.
Dr. Hanif Chaudhry, associate dean and chair of the university's department of civil and environmental engineering, is leading the research team that includes Dr. Jasim Imran from the college and researchers at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium and the Instituto Superior Tecnico in Portugal.
“The five-year study, which will investigate the modeling of flood hazards and the impact of levee breach and dam failure, builds on the research strengths of each institution,” Chaudhry said. “We have expertise in computer modeling, but our European partners have done more experimental work with huge laboratories to simulate design and construction models. We can learn from European engineering researchers who have developed advanced methodologies with dam and levee design.”
The study has its origins from research, led by Chaudhry, on the flooding caused by the levee breaches in New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. A $25,000 grant from the university's Office of Research led to an initial study in 2005 of the breached levees in New Orleans and a subsequent NSF grant of $100,000 to examine the hydraulics of the 17th Street Canal breach and the closure procedures used in the hours after the devastating storm.
Chaudhry also will conduct studies on levee failure as part of a $1.8 million, three-year project, recently funded by the Department of Homeland Security to the University of Mississippi through Oakridge National Laboratory.
“Flooding resulting from the failure of levees and dams causes loss of life and human suffering, as well as destruction of property and ecosystems for hundreds of miles from the failure site,” Chaudhry said. “This research, which has national and international implications, will be useful in planning for emergencies caused by levee and dam failure.”
Dr. Harris Pastides, the university's vice president of research and health sciences, said the NSF grant is an excellent example of the research funding that he envisioned when the Office of Research made an initial investment of $400,000 for 18 studies on the societal and environmental impact of Hurricane Katrina.
“Within days of the disaster, the university moved forward to fund studies that would impact the way our state and nation respond to future disasters and crises,” he said. “We believed that University of South Carolina researchers would lay the foundation for significant discoveries on coastal resiliency.”
The NSF grant not only is a great step in meeting this goal, but it also takes Chaudhry's research one step further by forging an international collaboration that will benefit university research and teaching, Pastides said.
In addition to the scientific findings, the study has a strong education and training component for engineering students. Ten civil engineering undergraduate students will travel to Belgium and Portugal each summer to participate in the research. The grant also will fund short overseas visits for Chaudhry and Imran and extended visits for the graduate students and postdoctoral fellows.
“The exchange visits, collaborative research opportunities and educational activities provided in this grant will enhance the university's research capabilities, while producing engineers who are prepared to work in the global marketplace,” Chaudhry said. Over the five years of the study, approximately 10 doctoral and 50 undergraduate students, including women and minorities underrepresented in engineering, will be included in the research opportunities abroad.
“Research experiences for undergraduate and graduate students are vital as we train the future engineers for our state and nation,” Chaudhry said. “In today's global business environment, having the opportunity to work on an international project such as this one will give our students a competitive edge in their careers.”
Related Links
College of Engineering and Computing
Hurricane Katrina CRISIS (Coastal Resiliency Information Systems Initiative for the Southeast)
