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A letter from the director of the Davidson Lab
Dear Mr.
Weatherby,
Stevens Institute of Technology is extremely pleased to participate in the
Wreck Vandenberg project. We
are excited by the research and education potential of this unique effort.
By virtue of its size and location, the Wreck Vandenberg offers a unique
opportunity to conduct leading-edge ocean engineering and coral reef
ecological studies. The project also represents a significant opportunity
to educate students across an array of scientific and engineering
disciplines, and inform the general public about issues related to coral
reef habitat restoration and preservation.
As currently envisioned, our participation will include the following
efforts
A research project aimed at identifying the viability of using chemical
cues imbedded in an engineered calcium carbonate structure to enhance the
recruitment and settlement of coral larvae.
This project will be conducted at several locations along the decks
of the Vandenberg, using various “control” (untreated) substrate as
well as the engineered substrate in order to enable the assessment of the
success of the proposed design. If
successful, this design would significantly enhance efforts to repair
coral reef habitat destroyed, e.g., by ship groundings.
A long-term monitoring project to examine the material behavior of the
wreck, that is, the rate of decay – if any – of the hull. By
conducting field measurements of hull thickness over time and at various
locations along the hull, we will characterize the long-term behavior of
the structure, and identify the factors contributing to any perceived
variability in rate of decay – e.g., proximity to water surface,
presence of marine growth/coral.
Long term monitoring of the stability of the wreck, that is, the response
of the vessel to extreme storm events.
An exciting new educational venture that seeks to educate and inform US
students and the general public by following the wreck project from
beginning to end, including the cleaning process, the towing of the vessel
from Virginia to Key West, the actual sinking, and the structural and
biological transformation of the wreck over the ensuing years.
Each of these aspects of the project will form an educational
“module” that can be used by science teachers from grade school
through university, and by ocean engineering and naval architecture
educators. We anticipate that
Stevens will work with the
Florida Keys
Community College
in developing project-based curricula for
use in oceanography, marine biology, ocean engineering, and naval
architecture courses. Stevens
has been a pioneer in the use of project-based learning to enhance the
undergraduate experience in science and engineering.
Stevens has also pioneered the use of the Internet in the
development and delivery of project-based learning modules for use by
grade school and high school teachers.
Stevens’ Center for Improved Engineering
and Science Education (CIESE) was established in 1988 has worked with school
systems around the country to assist teachers in using computer technology
to enhance instruction and student achievement.
As wireless bandwidth continues to grow, another exciting use of
the wreck as an educational platform is evolving – the use of the Wreck
Vandenberg as an “underwater classroom”, with lectures conducted in
real-time over the Internet on topics ranging from marine biology and
ecology to ocean currents, wave dynamics and underwater structure
behavior.
We look forward to an exciting and productive partnership with Artificial
Reefs of the Keys!
Sincerely
Michael S. Bruno PhD, PE
Professor and Director
Davidson Laboratory
Stevens Institute of Technology
Hoboken
,
NJ
07030
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| Plans for testing |
Intentional
Sinking of USAFS Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg to Serve as an Artificial Reef
An
Experimental Study using 1/70th-Scale Model
A proposal/white-paper
PI: Michael S Bruno, mbruno@stevens-tech.edu,
201-216-5338
Co-PI: Raju Datla, rdatla@stevens-tech.edu,
201-216-5568
It has been proposed to bring the decommissioned ship USAFS
Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg
to the Florida Keys and sink it in waters 140 ft deep to serve
as an artificial reef. At 520 ft long and 100 ft deep (keel to top
of antennas), this will be the largest ship ever
intentionally sunk for this purpose and will become a world-class
diving destination. The vessel will become a habitat and breeding
site for countless marine species and offer many other benefits to
the environment and to education and research.
Since the ship characteristics will have changed significantly
after it is prepared for this purpose, there will be significant
challenges involved with respect to stability and seakeeping
during the towing and sinking operations. We would like to study
these issues under various possible scenarios in some detail using
a scaled model and propose to perform these following tasks:
A 1/70th scale model of the ship including the
superstructure will be constructed. The model will have pluggable
openings of the 7 ft x 10 ft rectangular access holes and another
set of small holes at various locations to allow water entry
during the “sinking” studies.
Calm-water Resistance Tests on the bare hull at different drafts
will be conducted in the
Davidson
Laboratory
High
Speed
Test
Basin
. Instrumentation will be installed
for the measurement of resistance, trim angle, and heave motion.
Seakeeping tests will be made at different drafts and access hole
opening configurations. Measurements will be made of Drag, Heave
and Pitch and statistical analysis will be performed to obtain
significant values (1/3rd highest, 1/10th
highest and extreme values) of the motions. Incidences of water
entry through the openings will be observed.
The sinking studies will be performed in the laboratory square
basin with the water depth reduced to 2 ft (representative of 140
ft full-scale depth). Tests will be made under different scenarios
that include variations in number, size, location and timing of
hole openings for water entry. The sinking will be recorded using
both surface and underwater video cameras. |
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