Tirpak explained, “We’ve always had flood risk management projects. Recently, we have had a couple of large coastal storm risk management projects, which focus more on storm surge-type flooding. And then we have the deep- and shallow-draft navigation. The ecosystem restoration is probably the one that we have the least amount of work in. We do them, but I would say out of the three, that would rank No. 3. We have so many channels, both shallow and deep draft, but we also have a lot of bayous. We work with Harris County Flood Control District in the Houston area, and just about everybody’s system up there has a project on it.”

She acknowledged the coordination between those projects and ongoing operations and maintenance dredging, offering the notional example of deepening an existing channel from 40 to 45 feet and the cost savings and value of coordinating that effort with the periodic maintenance cycle on the 40-foot-deep channel.

Noting that Buffalo District has 35 harbors – from Toledo, Ohio, to Massena, New York – where it is responsible for generating project condition surveys for federal navigation channels within the district, he said that the aged equipment created challenges in “trying to keep up with the workload to generate the product that we needed to.”

In terms of current efforts, Tirpak highlighted what she described as “two of the largest general investigation studies possibly in the Corps.” The first involves improvements to the Houston ship channel and the other is a “Coastal Texas Storm Risk Management Study.” Because of their size and scope, both studies required waivers to USACE policy, with completion of the ship channel study projected for 4 ½ years and $10 million and the coastal study at 5 ½ years and $19.8 million.

“After each study is done, it has to be authorized by Congress,” she added. “Then we can go to pre-construction, engineering and design, and construction phases, with each of those phases requiring appropriations on an annual basis.”

One critical element of USACE dredging activities – both maintenance and new construction – involves the timeliness and accuracy of the underlying survey data.

Roman Figler drew on his own 33 years in the engineering consulting business when he applied for his current job as USACE Buffalo District survey section chief.

“I’m a professional land surveyor licensed in New York and New Jersey,” he began. “From 1988 to 2009, the consulting firm that I worked for was doing Corps of Engineers survey and mapping contracts. I was very familiar with the type of work they do and it made it an easy transition for me to come over to the government side.”

When he arrived in the new job, Figler found a fleet of survey craft that he describes as “aged.”

“The boats we had at the time were 25 to 30 years old,” he said. “They certainly didn’t owe the government a nickel. They had been worked hard and worked often.”

Other new technologies include the addition of a radio-controlled boat to the survey toolbox as well as early experimentation on the use of drones to conduct small topographic surveys.

Noting that Buffalo District has 35 harbors – from Toledo, Ohio, to Massena, New York – where it is responsible for generating project condition surveys for federal navigation channels within the district, he said that the aged equipment created challenges in “trying to keep up with the workload to generate the product that we needed to.”

He continued, “What we ended up doing is going out and getting new boats and updating and upgrading our equipment. Now we’re more efficient. We’re more productive. We’re taking advantage of the technology that’s presented to us and, through that, we’re able to generate more work with [fewer] people. My section itself is down three full-time employees since I’ve started here, but we’re doing 30 to 35 percent more work.”

Figler observed that the Buffalo District includes 38 miles of jetties and breakwaters, and that historical survey methods on just a 5,000-foot section of breakwaters required “a three-person crew walking on algae-covered rocks or large stones five to seven days in the field.”

“But with the vessel mounted LiDAR [light detection ranging] system now on our boat, for the above-water portion, we’re now completing that work in eight hours,” he said.

In another example, Figler credited the use of a new multi-beam, high-resolution sonar system that now offers “a complete picture for underwater dredging operations.”

“When you have a multi-beam system, it’s generating a complete picture, so when it comes to quantity generation for dredge material available or dredge material removed, our system utilizes a multi-beam and it’s much more accurate. It’s a better use of the taxpayers’ dollars and it’s fair to the contractors because they’re going to get paid for what they remove,” he said.

Other new technologies include the addition of a radio-controlled boat to the survey toolbox as well as early experimentation on the use of drones to conduct small topographic surveys.

“It’s a funny thing,” Figler offered. “When I started surveying, we used transits and throw chains. Now we’ve got robotic control stations and you can’t run fast enough for the instrument to lose you.”

He concluded, “We’re fortunate here to have the senior leadership support that allows us to look into this stuff that allows us to be more efficient and more productive. But there are a number of districts across the country that are also doing great things. It’s a great team.”

Charleston District is one of those areas also embracing new survey technologies to support dredging operations.

According to Jennifer Kist, a survey technician in the district and one of eight female survey technicians in USACE, the focus of the district’s survey efforts is directed toward dredging projects around Charleston Harbor.

Following college graduation, Kist worked on a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration survey boat before joining USACE around the end of 2014.

“As far as in the future there are things like that. There are also autonomous underwater vehicles now that you can send out and collect data. You don’t even have to send a boat out. It’s all about getting more information in less time, with [fewer] man hours.”

“Our survey department actually is pretty advanced with our technologies, which is kind of where I come in, because I’m more of a computer person,” she said. “And a young person can get kind of far really quickly here, in survey specifically.”

In much the same way as Figler in Buffalo District, Kist compared methods for conducting surveys “back in the day” with new multi-beam sonar systems that can collect 3,000 data points per second while moving along at 8 knots.

Kist said that the availability of new technologies not only enhances the collection of survey data but also the subsequent recording, processing, and presentation of that information.

“I do a lot of computer programming and scripting, as well as a lot of software stuff,” she explained. “And one of the things I’ve taken on here is creating imagery and producing something that people can look at and use.

“It’s definitely a developing field,” she added. “And into the future, I think that computers will get faster and faster, and larger and larger, extracting even more information than we are currently collecting.”

As an example, she highlighted one study that explored returning sonar pings to ascertain “theoretical grain-size analysis” and actually identify the types of materials on the ocean floor in dredging areas.

“That’s a big thing for Charleston, because we’re always re-nourishing beaches, and we would like to know where there’s really good quality beach sand, because everybody wants perfect sand to squish their toes in,” she said.

“As far as in the future there are things like that,” she summarized. “There are also autonomous underwater vehicles now that you can send out and collect data. You don’t even have to send a boat out. It’s all about getting more information in less time, with [fewer] man hours.”

This article was first published in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: Building Strong®, Serving the Nation and the Armed Forces 2016-2017 Edition magazine.