RAPID/Collaborative Research: Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Properties of the Ahr Valley and Their Role in Structural Damage During Recent Flooding

快速反应研究奖（RAPID）将重点收集和处理2021年西欧洪水期间受影响的基础设施和河段附近侵蚀和沉积模式空间分布的高分辨率易腐数据。这些数据将被询问，以提供深入了解如何通道几何形状，流动条件，碎片的存在，岩土工程特性影响的性能与极端洪水的工程结构。在全球气候变化的背景下，这是相关的，预计极端洪水将更频繁地发生，规模更大。许多在德国洪水中受损的现代建筑与美国各地发现的建筑相似，从研究这次洪水事件中获得的知识将转移到美国的建筑环境中。项目期间产生的数据可以为更新基础设施设计和防洪策略提供支持，以满足未来因气候变化而加剧的需求。本研究的具体目标是提供关于极端洪水事件对基础设施的影响以及城市土地使用和环境条件影响的新数据和知识。通过这些数据收集，一套详细的案例研究记录了基础设施附近和城市河段的沉积物动力学，将有助于确定极端洪水期间可能影响工程结构性能的特征和过程。河床的地球物理场测量将包括旋转侧扫声纳、高分辨率啁啾声纳和单波束声纳。这将有助于收集河道水深测量和沉积物地层学，这可能会揭示新的信息，如果或如何在河床上层米底质的变化发挥了重要作用，在极端水力事件的沉积物动员和不稳定性。地基和机载LiDAR调查将提供河岸和周围结构的高分辨率3D模型，从而能够评估侵蚀模式和结构损坏之间的潜在相互作用。将利用无人机技术收集多光谱图像，以确定更广泛的侵蚀和沉积模式。除了实验室测量的样本采集外，岩土现场测量还包括袖珍自由落体式重力仪、袖珍磨耗仪、现场十字板剪切和现场降落锥测量。岩土工程观测，再加上地球物理和遥感数据，将使沉积物如何被侵蚀和工程结构附近的运输进行全面评估。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

This Grant for Rapid Response Research (RAPID) award will focus on collecting and processing high resolution, perishable data on the spatial distribution of erosive and depositional patterns in the vicinity of infrastructure and river sections that were affected during the 2021 Western European Floods. These data will be interrogated to provide insight into how channel geometry, flow conditions, the presence of debris, and geotechnical properties affect performance of engineered structures interacting with extreme floods. This is relevant in the context of global climate change where extreme flooding is expected to occur more frequently and at larger magnitudes. Many of the modern structures that were damaged during the flooding in Germany are similar to structures found across the United States and knowledge gained from studying this flooding event will be transferable to the built environment in the United States. Data generated during the project can provide support to update infrastructure design and flood mitigation strategies to meet future demands intensified by climate change.The specific goal of this research is to provide new data and knowledge on the impact of extreme flooding events on infrastructure and the effects of urban land usage and environmental conditions. Through this data collection, a detailed set of case studies that document sediment dynamics in the vicinity of infrastructure and in urban river sections will facilitate identification of features and processes that potentially influence performance of engineered structures during extreme flooding. Geophysical field measurements in the riverbed will include rotary side scan sonar, high resolution chirp sonar, and single beam sonar. This will enable collection of channel bathymetry and sediment stratigraphy, which may reveal novel information on if or how changes in substrata in the upper meter of the river bed play a significant role in sediment mobilization and instability during extreme hydraulic events. Both ground-based and airborne LiDAR surveys will provide high-resolution, 3D models of the riverbanks and surrounding structures, enabling assessment of potential interaction between erosive patterns and structural damage. Multispectral images will be collected using drone-based technology to identify broader erosive and depositional patterns. Geotechnical field measurements will include pocket free fall penetrometer, pocket erodometer, field vane shear, and field fall cone measurements in addition to sample collection for laboratory measurements. The geotechnical observations, coupled with the geophysical and remote sensing data, will enable a comprehensive assessment of how sediments were eroded and transported near engineered structures.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.