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Natural Infrastructure Recognized in American Society of Civil Engineers’ Report Card for America’s Infrastructure

We’re excited by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)’s announcement that natural infrastructure is recognized as a key solution for building resilience and raising the grade across all infrastructure sectors in the ASCE Report Card for America’s Infrastructure!

This historic addition will encourage planners and designers to consider natural infrastructure as an essential tool as they work to make their communities safer and more resilient. The ASCE Report Card also highlights natural infrastructure as an integral part of strengthening America’s stormwater infrastructure.

“The inclusion of natural infrastructure in the ASCE Report Card is a sign that it’s becoming recognized as a powerful tool for strengthening our overall infrastructure system and increasing the resilience of our country,” said Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems (IRIS) Director, Dr. Brian Bledsoe.

Every four years, the ASCE releases a report card evaluating the state of infrastructure in the United States. The report card assesses its current and future condition, maintenance needs, safety, and contribution to community resilience, among other factors. It also provides recommendations for how states and cities can improve their grade in the future.

Natural infrastructure can work together with conventional infrastructure to protect people, their livelihoods and their communities from severe weather impacts and climate change.

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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and University of Georgia announce Network for Engineering With Nature partnership

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and University of Georgia (UGA) recently announced a partnership that connects the interdisciplinary expertise of UGA’s Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems (IRIS), with the vast on-the-ground experience of USACE’s Engineering With Nature® (EWN®) Initiative to form the Network for Engineering With Nature (N-EWN).

Through this partnership and a new $2.5 million award to UGA from USACE, researchers are expanding and accelerating EWN and the practice of natural infrastructure in the public and private sectors.

EWN is an initiative developed by USACE to efficiently and sustainably deliver economic, environmental and social benefits through the use of natural infrastructure. By using a combination of natural and conventional processes and materials, natural infrastructure can protect people, homes and habitats. It can come in many forms and scales, including sand dunes engineered to prevent erosion, floodplains along rivers, which allow the river to ebb and flow without flood risk to communities, and coastal wetlands, which filter out pollution and provide habitat. 

Sixteen UGA researchers from 10 different colleges and departments will apply their expertise to N-EWN’s mission. The project leader for UGA is principal investigator Dr. Brian Bledsoe, a professor in the College of Engineering, who specializes in resilient infrastructure. The N-EWN partnership will also draw from the expertise of the UGA’s River Basin Center and Center for Integrative Conservation Research. In addition, an equal number of researchers from USACE will add their knowledge and skill to the network, led by Dr. Todd Bridges, the EWN National Lead and Dr. Jeffrey King, EWNDeputy National Lead.

“We are delighted to be working closely with USACE’s world class researchers. Together, we can take our research on natural infrastructure to the next level and inspire a new generation of engineers and scientists who will reshape the nation’s water resources infrastructure,” Bledsoe said of the partnership.

In an ambitious set of pilot projects, the researchers will improve methods for using natural infrastructure to strengthen community resilience, create models and dashboards that allow designers to map out how natural infrastructure can provide more benefits to society, and inspire a new generation of engineers, ecologists and social scientists to utilize natural infrastructure through education and workforce development.

To come along on the journey, follow the hashtag #N4EWN on Twitter and Instagram, where we will post updates on the individual projects, researcher profiles, and exciting innovations in the field. Find more information about N-EWN on our website, https://n-ewn.org/