Critical infrastructure near the coastline faces heightened risks from corrosion and water erosion, posing serious threats to the well-being and resilience of coastal communities. Bio-strengthened infrastructure materials can help mitigate these impacts through shoreline hardening, beach nourishment, and wetland restoration. To advance coastal communities’ capacity to address these challenges, this Seed Translational Research Project (STRP) will translate the research on sustainable civil engineering materials into both educational settings and practical applications.
The STRP team will refine an evaluation tool to assist community-based stakeholders in making informed decisions about selecting and using sustainable materials to address coastal challenges to critical infrastructure. The STRP team will also create: (1) a new module that teaches students about sustainable materials solutions in an existing graduate / upper-level undergraduate course on reinforced concrete design (CEIE 413/513); and (2) a new graduate / upper-level undergraduate course where students will learn about innovative civil and construction engineering materials ; while introducing sustainability principles and guiding students in using the tool to develop needs-driven projects for community-based partners.
