Abstract
Can Hydraulic Structures Handle Ice?
The title question of this seminar poses the question – Can hydraulic structures handle ice? The answer to this question is a qualified “no”. Though progress certainly has been made, ice concerns remain inadequately addressed or the possibility of ice concerns being forgotten. This paper addresses the question in terms of spatial scales: molecular, hydraulic structure, and global. Water is a material whose behavior is dictated by its molecules in response to pressures and temperatures exerted at the scales of hydraulic structure and Earth. Also, this paper argues that the further the hydraulic structure is located towards the lower extents of so-called “cold regions” consideration of ice concerns decrease and are at risk of being forgotten (e.g., Colorado). When a structure is at a high latitude (commonly subject to frigid conditions), ice is considered, but there may be no assurance that such consideration is included in design or operation of a hydraulic structure.
Biography
Rob Ettema joined the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in August, 2015 to further augment the outstanding water and infrastructure program at Colorado State University. Ettema received his undergraduate and graduate education at Auckland University, New Zealand. He has held faculty and administrative positions at The University of Iowa and the University of Wyoming prior to joining Colorado State University. His main research and expertise interests involve the following range of aspects regarding water engineering: hydraulic structures, river mechanics, and cold-regions considerations. He has served as Editor of the American Society of Civil Engineer’s Journal of Hydraulic Engineering, Associate Editor of ASCE’s Cold Regions Engineering Journal, and has consulted and written extensively on numerous hydraulics and cold-regions problems. Additionally, he is a Fellow of Engineering New Zealand and ASCE. Ettema was awarded the Hans Albert Einstein Award for his international recognition in advancing insight and engineering methods regarding sediment transport processes at bridge waterways and other hydraulic structures, sediment transport under ice covers and river morphology, and for promoting river mechanics education and history.
Ettema retired as Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering in May 2024 and continues his work in the department as Senior Research Scientist effective August 2024.