Flood and Earthquake Modeling | W81EWF 22 SOI 0028

Opportunity Information: Apply for W81EWF 22 SOI 0028

Flood and Earthquake Modeling (Funding Opportunity Number W81EWF 22 SOI 0028) is a Department of Defense opportunity administered through the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) to support focused research on how earthquakes can affect dams and levees and how those risks should be modeled and assessed. The motivation is practical and urgent: across the United States, roughly 740 dams and more than 1,600 levees help protect communities, businesses, and public infrastructure from extreme flooding during heavy rain events, and many of these protective systems sit in seismically active areas. With an average age around 60 years, a large share of these structures are nearing or reaching the limits of their original design life, which raises the stakes for getting risk estimates right as agencies plan maintenance, upgrades, and long-term safety decisions.

A core issue driving the grant is that, within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) risk framework, seismic-related failure modes can produce conflicting or inconsistent results for certain foundation and embankment soil conditions. In other words, when engineers evaluate how an earthquake might trigger problems like instability, settlement, cracking, or other mechanisms that could lead to dam or levee distress or failure, the available methods do not always agree, especially in challenging geotechnical settings. ERDC is seeking research that helps resolve these discrepancies so that economic benefits (avoided damages) and life-safety benefits (reduced risk to the public) tied to these structures can be measured more accurately and consistently. The broader implication is that better seismic modeling and risk assessment leads to better prioritization of repairs and investments, and ultimately more reliable flood protection.

The anticipated work is organized around three main activities. First, the awardee is expected to review and analyze the current state of practice in earthquake engineering as it relates to these kinds of infrastructure systems. That includes examining how dams and levees are currently designed and analyzed for seismic loading, what standards and guidance documents are in use, and how risk is assessed for the failure modes that most strongly drive overall risk. This portion is meant to identify where methods are robust, where they diverge, and where knowledge gaps or practical limitations are causing inconsistent outcomes.

Second, the project includes convening a workshop that brings together seismic experts from government research organizations and academia. The intent is to create a structured forum to compare approaches, debate uncertainties, and develop a clearer research agenda. The opportunity description highlights several example research directions that may be covered, including field investigations (both geotechnical and geophysical methods to characterize soils and subsurface conditions), laboratory testing (to better understand material behavior under cyclic or earthquake-like loading), analytical and numerical modeling approaches (to improve simulation of soil-structure interaction and failure mechanisms), and the use of machine learning techniques for data analysis (for example, extracting patterns from historical performance data, test results, or simulation databases to support better predictions and decision-making).

Third, the work product is expected to be formally documented in a peer-reviewed technical report that will be publicly available. That deliverable suggests the agency is looking for a durable reference that captures the state of practice, summarizes workshop findings, and clearly lays out recommended research needs and pathways for improving seismic risk assessments for dams and levees. In practical terms, the report would likely serve as a roadmap for future investigations and could inform updates to guidance, modeling approaches, and risk assessment procedures used by USACE and partners.

Administratively, this is a discretionary funding opportunity offered as a cooperative agreement, meaning ERDC anticipates substantial involvement or collaboration during the project rather than a hands-off grant. The catalog number listed is CFDA 12.630, and the posting indicates an expected single award with an award ceiling of $100,000. The opportunity was created on June 21, 2022, with an original closing date of August 14, 2022. Eligibility is broadly labeled as "Others" with additional clarification referenced in the full announcement, which typically means applicants should check the eligibility section carefully to confirm whether their organization type and status fit the program requirements.

Overall, the grant is aimed at improving the reliability of earthquake-related modeling and risk estimates for aging flood risk management infrastructure, with a clear emphasis on reconciling conflicting assessment results tied to specific soil and embankment conditions, coordinating expert input through a dedicated workshop, and producing a publicly accessible technical report that can guide future research and engineering practice.

• The Department of Defense, Engineer Research and Development Center in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Flood and Earthquake Modeling" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.630.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 21, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 14, 2022. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $100,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for W81EWF 22 SOI 0028

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: