ERDC provides the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers with experimental and computational expertise for solving water resource and infrastructure sustainability challenges around the world.
ERDC researchers by a creek.
ERDC’ s rapidly transportable and deployable barrier system
Vicksburg: Geotechnical and Structures Lab( GSL), Information Technology Lab( ITL), Environmental Lab( EL), and Coastal and Hydraulics Lab( CHL). With a mission of making the world safer and better, ERDC employs more than 2,600 people and has an annual research program that exceeds $ 2 billion. Behind the gates on Halls Ferry Road and across its other labs in New Hampshire, Virginia and Illinois, world-class scientists, engineers and technicians( many of them our neighbors and friends) are solving our nation’ s toughest challenges across the globe.
The same innovative mindset that defined WES in the late 1920s is now driving technologies to protect against modern threats across the U. S. and abroad. ERDC developed the RAPID and DETER system, a deployable barrier technology originally designed to stop attacks from vehicles in the Middle East. Today, its lightweight, easy setup, has been trusted to help safeguard high-profile American gatherings like the NFL Super Bowl in New Orleans and the Indianapolis 500. ERDC’ s engineering expertise also contributed to the antiterrorism technology at the Pentagon, specifically designed to absorb impact and resist blasts. On September 11, 2001, those walls did exactly what they were built to do, protecting the building and saving numerous lives. These aren’ t just inventions on paper, they’ re proven technologies that show how ERDC defends our nation in ways most people never realize.
Tomorrow, the challenges will look different, but the mission remains. ERDC is leading research in artificial intelligence( AI), autonomous vehicles, robotics and advanced modeling that will define the Army of the future. Imagine AI-powered systems that help leaders make fast decisions or machines like the DamBot, developed at ERDC, that take humans out of harm’ s way and send robots into dangerous situations instead. These breakthroughs may sound futuristic, but they’ re already being created and tested right here in Vicksburg.
ERDC’ s innovation has gained worldwide notoriety, and its researchers are recognized internationally for their expertise. That proficiency is evident by how ERDC’ s research has made a difference and been adopted across the
2026 CHAMBER GUIDE • 17