News Release 06-047

Large Centrifuge Helps Researchers Mimic Effects of Katrina on Levees

Part of nationwide "co-laboratory" of earthquake engineering facilities, the technology proves critical for studying soils beneath New Orleans

Video showing the RPI centrifuge experiment is available at http://www.rpi.edu/news/levees/

Video showing the RPI centrifuge experiment is available at http://www.rpi.edu/news/levees/.


March 21, 2006

This material is available primarily for archival purposes. Telephone numbers or other contact information may be out of date; please see current contact information at media contacts.

Researchers studying the effects of Hurricane Katrina on the levees of New Orleans used a 150 g-ton centrifuge to model one of New Orleans' levee sections and the hurricane forces that led to its failure. The goal of the test was to learn how layers of peat and clay beneath the levees might have contributed to the failure.

The centrifuge is part of the National Science Foundation (NSF) George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES), an interconnected, nationally distributed system of 15 facilities for studying the effects of full-scale earthquake forces on structures and materials.

Tarek Abdoun of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), who led the levee test as part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Hurricane Katrina Interagency Performance Evaluation Task Force, presented the team's preliminary findings in New Orleans on March 20 at a public meeting of a National Academies committee that is reviewing the study.

During the experiment, the researchers subjected a scaled-down model of the 17th Street Canal levee in New Orleans--complete with local-source peat--to extreme conditions like those experienced during the hurricane on Aug. 29, 2005. The experiment suggested earth sliding along a weak clay layer that underlies a bed of peat directly beneath the levee helped to bring down the 17th Street structure.

The researchers consider the results to be preliminary and will conduct additional tests in the coming weeks.

In addition to supporting experiments like the RPI centrifuge test, NSF has granted numerous awards to researchers studying the effects of Hurricane Katrina and gathering information that can help prepare for future national disasters.

More information about the RPI study is available in the university press release linked below.

-NSF-

Media Contacts
Joshua A. Chamot, NSF, (703) 292-7730, email: jchamot@nsf.gov
Jason Gorss, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, (518) 276-6098, email: gorssj@rpi.edu

Program Contacts
Joy M. Pauschke, NSF, (703) 292-7024, email: jpauschk@nsf.gov

Principal Investigators
Tarek Abdoun, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, (518) 276-6544, email: abdout@rpi.edu

The U.S. National Science Foundation propels the nation forward by advancing fundamental research in all fields of science and engineering. NSF supports research and people by providing facilities, instruments and funding to support their ingenuity and sustain the U.S. as a global leader in research and innovation. With a fiscal year 2023 budget of $9.5 billion, NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to nearly 2,000 colleges, universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives more than 40,000 competitive proposals and makes about 11,000 new awards. Those awards include support for cooperative research with industry, Arctic and Antarctic research and operations, and U.S. participation in international scientific efforts.

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