When I visited Southern Illinois University in Carbondale a few weeks ago I had an opportunity to visit Little River Research & Design, owner Steve Gough, and his assistant, geoscientist Cara Bergschneider. Steve's firm provides consulting services in river ecosystem restoration, river geomorphology, biotechnical engineering, and urban stream management.
So I visited a consulting firm? Does that merit a blog post?
In this case, yes.
And no, I'm not on the LRRD payroll.
What Steve and Cara wanted to show me were LRRD's remarkable moveable bed river process simulators, specifically the Em2 model, which is about 0.9 m (3 feet) by 2.1 m (7 feet). There is also a larger model, the Em4, which is 3.7 m x 1.5 m (12 feet x 5 feet) with 5 square meters (about 53 square feet) of surface area.
These models were designed by Steve, built onsite by LRRD, and are for sale. Here are short movies on the Em2 and Em4.
These pictures are of Cara, Mae Davenport of SIU, and me with the Em2.
In the 'old days' I remember fiddling around with stream tables - linear plastic tubs in which you'd put some sand, run some water down the middle, and see what happened. They were useful but messy and primitive compared to the LRRD moveable bed models.
Perhaps the most innovative aspect of these models is the use custom-made, color-coded thermoplastic particles as 'sediment' in lieu of actual earth materials. LRRD currently uses four different grain sizes. They are about half the density of quartz sand and result in better hydraulic scaling.
You can see the different colors in the pictures. They really make it easy to visualize the processes and the resultant geomorphic/sedimentologic changes.
Steve and Cara have used the Em2 and Em4 extensively to illlustrate the effects of gravel pits, among other processes. The effects are dramatic and can be seen virtually immediately.
These models are being used by educational institutions, government agencies, and others. You can imagine how great they'd be for educational purposes.
You can read and see more, including videos, at the LRRD site. Again, here are links to short movies on the Em2 and Em4.
Think I'll return as a fluvial geomorphologist.
Steve also has a blog, Riparian Rap.
"Like swift water, an active mind never stagnates." -- Unknown
Dr. Roy Haggerty at the Dept. of Geosciences at Oregon State University has built a couple of these models, too. They are great additions to the DaVinci Days science fair held in Corvallis, OR, in July. Looks like Roy is staying with the rest of the leading edge scientists in using top-drawer visual aids to spread the good word.
Posted by: groundwaterhegemony | Sunday, 26 April 2009 at 05:06 PM