Rubber ducks sailed down the channel at UNM’s new hydraulics laboratory as part of the official celebration of the opening of the lab. The channel is altered to mimic unusual storm water channel designs. Students alter the designs to improve hydraulic efficiency and sometimes the structure’s ability to remove debris.
Photo: Rubber ducks flow down a channel as part of the opening of the new hydraulics laboratory in the Civil Engineering Department.
The Civil Engineering Department has worked with the Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control Authority (AMAFCA) for 20 years building physical scaled models of local flood control structures. During that time dozens of civil engineering students have contributed to 57 different studies. Current Lab Director and Associate Professor of Civil Engineering Julie Coonrod and John Kelly, AMAFCA executive engineer, were involved with the lab’s beginnings, though not in their current capacities.
In 1989, Coonrod was a graduate student under Former Lab Director and Professor Richard Heggen. Kelly, also a UNM Civil Engineering graduate, was the field engineer at AMAFCA, overseeing how modeled structures were implemented in the field. The dedication included celebrating the continued partnership between UNM and AMAFCA, and included short speeches from Dean of the School of Engineering Joe Cecchi, Civil Engineering Department Chair Arup Maji, and AMAFCA Board of Directors Chair Danny Hernandez.
Kelly notes that the projects have a practical impact on county residents. One project convinced the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to remove 100 residents living downstream of the South Pino Arroyo on Wyoming from a federal flood plain map, resulting in homeowners no longer having to buy flood insurance.
Another project benefited bicyclists when lab models proved to AMAFCA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that bike trail underpasses could be built into the sides of the North and South Diversion Channels without causing unacceptable wave actions. The underpasses are now used by bike riders to safely cross busy arterial streets along the trail system.
The lab has saved AMAFCA more than $10 million in design, construction and maintenance costs by improving the design efficiency of the structures built by the agency. In turn, civil engineering students can show prospective employers real projects they helped test and design.
The hydraulics lab is located in the Centennial Engineering Center, where previously separated teaching and research labs are combined. According to Coonrod, “The University is about teaching, research and service – these three are embodied in the hydraulics lab.”
Media Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; e-mail: kwent2@unm.edu
Posted by scarr at October 30, 2008 04:09 PM