{"id":72333,"date":"2016-07-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-07-26T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-graduate-student-in-engineering-wins-top-honor-for-research-on-new-bedford-hurricane-barrier\/"},"modified":"2016-07-26T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-07-26T00:00:00","slug":"uri-graduate-student-in-engineering-wins-top-honor-for-research-on-new-bedford-hurricane-barrier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2016\/07\/uri-graduate-student-in-engineering-wins-top-honor-for-research-on-new-bedford-hurricane-barrier\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 graduate student in engineering wins top honor for research on New Bedford Hurricane Barrier"},"content":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I., July 26, 2016\u2014The New Bedford<\/strong> Hurricane Barrier is one of the biggest in the world, but will it protect the Massachusetts coast as sea levels rise?<\/p>\n

No, according to a 溏心vlog免费B站 graduate student in engineering whose research paper on the issue won first place from the American Society of Civil Engineers.<\/p>\n

Danielle Goudreau, 23, of Townsend, Mass<\/strong>., received the honor during the group\u2019s Coasts, Oceans, Ports and Rivers Institute conference in\u00a0New Orleans June 12 through June 15.<\/p>\n

The paper, \u201cInvestigation of Combined Storm Surge Inundation and Sea Level Rise to the New Bedford Hurricane Barrier,\u2019\u2019 was among four papers nationwide selected to be presented at the conference. Participants voted to give Goudreau the top honor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI still can\u2019t believe it,\u2019\u2019 says Goudreau. \u201cIt was an honor to be recognized for the research I\u2019ve been doing. It also reflects on how much I\u2019ve learned through my years as an engineering student at 溏心vlog免费B站.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Goudreau is enrolled in 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s five-year accelerated engineering program, which offers a bachelor\u2019s and master\u2019s degree in engineering. Goudreau is studying civil engineering and will graduate in August.<\/p>\n

Located on the northwest side of Buzzards Bay, the New Bedford Hurricane Barrier stretches 9,100 feet across the Port of New Bedford to the shores of Fairhaven, Mass. It was built in 1962 to protect Fairhaven, Acushnet and New Bedford from coastal storms and hurricanes.<\/p>\n

Using computer-based programs\u2014Sea, Lake and Overland Surges from Hurricanes, or SLOSH, and Geographical Information System software, or GIS\u2014Goudreau found that the barrier would not prevent flooding during intense storms with sea level rise. Damage to houses, businesses and roads could be significant.<\/p>\n

Climate change will significantly affect the coastal communities of Massachusetts in the coming decades. Scientists project sea levels to rise 3 to 5 feet by 2100, and recent government projections are as high as 7 feet.<\/p>\n

Goudreau determined that in a category 2 hurricane at high tide with no sea level rise the storm surge doesn\u2019t go beyond the barrier. When a 4-foot sea level rise is factored in, the storm surge is dangerously close to the top of the barrier.<\/p>\n

A category 3 hurricane with 4 feet of sea level rise \u201covertops\u2019\u2019 the barrier by a quarter foot, says Goudreau. Because the barrier is so long, flooding at the Port of New Bedford could be significant: Potential flow into the harbor could reach 1.6 million gallons every minute, Goudreau says.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the year 2100, my mapping indicates that the barrier overtops during a category 3 hurricane at mean sea level,\u2019\u2019 she says. \u201cA storm scenario like this is possible within the next 100 years considering there were two large storms close to one another\u2014in 1938 and 1955\u2014that devastated the Port of New Bedford and neighboring towns.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

During her research she also discovered that the online Massachusetts GIS mapping tool for hurricanes uses a 2-foot tide range for the entire coast, which is not representative of that area. In her studies, Goudreau used a 5-foot tide range; that range is more typical for the New Bedford region.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsing that higher tide range resulted in much more flooding, even without sea level rise in the picture,\u2019\u2019 says Goudreau. \u201cThere were scenarios where my model predicted the barrier to be overtopped, and the online GIS mapping from Massachusetts did not.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Goudreau says her findings are especially important for Massachusetts because the state does not have a single source that provides an analysis of the impact of hurricane storm surges with predicted sea level rise.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe results of my project indicate the importance of resiliency to be included in the design for new coastal stabilization structures,\u2019\u2019 says Goudreau. \u201cWhile the next extreme storm event can\u2019t be accurately predicted, the use of my model for the barrier indicates there are many storm scenarios that could cause major damage by overtopping the barrier.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Growing up in Townsend, Goudreau excelled in math and science in high school and chose 溏心vlog免费B站 to pursue an engineering degree involving coastal structures. She was also enticed by the five-year accelerated engineering program.<\/p>\n

She singles out her internship with Pare Corp. in Foxboro, Mass., for providing practical experience in waterfront structure design and fieldwork throughout New England. Because of 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s flexible program, she was able to work part-time while pursuing her master\u2019s degree by taking classes at night on the Kingston and Narragansett bay campuses.<\/p>\n

Her hard work paid off. Last month, Pare, a highly regarded civil engineering consulting firm with offices in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, hired her as a full-time engineer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe internship was crucial in helping me find a great job,\u2019\u2019 says Goudreau. \u201cOne of the best things about the accelerated program is that I was able to get on-the-job experience while also learning in the classroom. That\u2019s so important in today\u2019s tough job market.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Winning first place at the conference also opened doors.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a great networking opportunity,\u2019\u2019 she says. \u201cI couldn\u2019t have done it without 溏心vlog免费B站. I got an excellent education that has jump started my career in a big way.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I., July 26, 2016\u2014The New Bedford Hurricane Barrier is one of the biggest in the world, but will it protect the Massachusetts coast as sea levels rise? No, according to a 溏心vlog免费B站 graduate student in engineering whose research paper on the issue won first place from the American Society of Civil […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":72334,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72333"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72333\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}