Jeffrey King, Amanda Tritinger, David Bucaro, Monica Chasten, Elizabeth Godsey, Julie Beagle, Katherine Brutsche, and Ram Mohan

The Engineering Research and Development Center (ERDC), part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), has been championing a pioneering program called the Engineering With Nature® (EWN®) initiative, which aims to promote the use of nature-based solutions (NBS) for coastal and fluvial flood ri...

Alexander B. Gregory, Jared M. Lopes, Krystyna T. Powell, and Safra Altman

Following the Chief of Engineer’s January 2023 goal to expand the beneficial use of dredged material (BUDM), the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) strives to apply new and creative ways to increase utilization of dredged materials from a historic 30%–40% to 70% by 2030. As USACE Savannah Distric...

Avery B. Paxton, Iris R. Foxfoot, Christina Cutshaw, D'amy N. Steward, Leanne Poussard, Trevor N. Riley, Todd M. Swannack, Candice D. Piercy, Safra Altman, Brandon J. Puckett, Curt D. Storlazzi, and T. Shay Viehman

Shallow, tropical coral reefs face compounding threats from climate change, habitat degradation due to coastal development and pollution, impacts from storms and sea-level rise, and pulse disturbances like blast fishing, mining, dredging, and ship groundings that reduce reef height and complexity...

Ellis Kalaidjian, Margaret H. Kurth, John Kucharski, Stephanie Galaitsi, and Elissa Yeates

There is consensus within psychological, physiological, medical, and social science disciplines that active and passive exposure to nature enhances human well-being. Natural infrastructure (NI) includes elements of nature that can deliver these ancillary well-being benefits while serving their in...

Ellis Kalaidjian, Margaret H. Kurth, Bari N. Greenfeld, and Matthew A. Smith

Knowledge gaps surrounding natural infrastructure (NI) life cycles and performance thwart widespread implementation of NI in civil works projects. In particular, information about funding or financing the scoping, design, construction, monitoring, and adaptive management of NI projects constitute...

Emily Dolatowski (UGA), Burton Suedel (USACE ERDC EL), Jon Calabria (UGA), Matthew Bilskie (UGA), James Byers (UGA), Kelsey Broich (UGA), Kyle McKay (USACE ERDC EL), Amanda Tritinger (USACE EWN), and Brock Woodson (UGA)

Extreme weather variation, natural disasters, and anthropogenic actions negatively impact coastal communities through flooding and erosion. To safeguard coastal settlements, shorelines are frequently reinforced with seawalls and bulkheads. Hardened shorelines, however, result in biodiversity loss...