Hundreds of aging dams and levees throughout the U.S. are being strained by rising water levels, severe weather events and other factors responsible for deterioration. Engineers from the University of Kansas, the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are now collaborating on new material innovations to shore up this critical infrastructure.

A five-year project seeks to bolster the performance and resilience of concrete dams and levees by use of fiber-reinforced polymers (FRPs). These composite materials consisting of carbon or glass fibers imbedded in an epoxy matrix are stronger than steel in strength-to-weight ratio. FRPs are being evaluated in flexible and direct-shear tests as sheets that can be used to stop surface crumbling, laminate strips to hold cracks together, and braces to stop vertical elements from sliding and joints from opening.

Researchers are also developing damage-detection technology based on artificial intelligence, deep learning and computer vision to autonomously identify the location and severity of dam damage prior to effecting repairs. Infrastructure photographs collected by drones will be used to train artificial neural networks to differentiate between images with and without various types of deterioration. Once trained, a computer model will be able to automatically recognize deterioration and pinpoint its location on the dam.

Efforts are also directed to advancing self-sensing FRP repair technology, which would enable continued monitoring of the renovated sites and ensure long-term safety.