A Busy Year of 2013: Rebuilding Effort for Superstorm Sandy, and Continuing Concern about Aging Water Infrastructure

I have not posted any blog in the past year of 2013. It has been an extremely busy year.

I have been actively engaged in the Superstorm Sandy recovery and rebuilding efforts, among other Rutgers University responsibilities. The Sandy projects that I have been leading in and the related news reports are listed below:

1. Flood Risk Reduction Strategies for Vulnerable Coastal Populations around Barnegat Bay, Hackensack River, Hudson River, Arthur Kill, and Delaware Bay. These studies are sponsored by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) and the Governor's Office of Recovery and Rebuilding (GORR).

CHRISTIE ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES POST-SUPERSTORM SANDY FLOOD MITIGATION STUDIES BY NEW JERSEY UNIVERSITIES

SOE Grant for Flood Mitigation Studies

Rutgers chosen in flood prevention, mitigation

My colleagues, students and I are continuing to work hard on these studies, and are striving to come up with some good solutions that would complement others' studies and make our state and region stronger and more resilient against future storms.

2. Protection of Reconstructed Boardwalk against Future Storms. This study was sponsored by the Borough of Seaside Heights, New Jersey.

Seaside Heights will use wall, dune to protect its boardwalk

Besides involvements with the Sandy-related rebuilding issues, I have continued to express my concern about our aging water infrastructure. My two media interviews last year on this subject are listed below:

Hundreds of Newark fire hydrants unusable as city grapples with aging water system

Old Water Pipes, New Development...Big Problem

The photo above is an image that I took during the technical tour kindly guided by engineers of the City of Elizabeth for our Sandy flood study, looking at the Arthur Kill, on January 7th, 2014.

It was a very cold day due to the arrival of Polar Vortex, with the air temperature of a single digit in Fahrenheit (lower than minus 10 degrees in Celsius). And, several water main breaks were reported across the New Jersey State due to the cold weather as well as the pipe's old age.

Rebuilding Jersey Shore after Hurricane Sandy: Necessity, Adaptability and Opportunity

In the aftermath of the devastating Superstorm Sandy that hit New Jersey on October 29, I was interviewed by several news outlets on the issue of rebuilding the Jersey Shore. I talked about the economic necessity of rebuilding the Jersey Shore as well as the technical aspects. The quotes are as follow:

"There are certain spots where it’s more vulnerable than other spots - maybe we should rebuild in some locations but not others. But not to build at all would not be acceptable in terms of economics." CCTV America, November 1 (EST), November 2 (BJT), 2012. The photo to the left is an image of the destroyed boardwalk taken from the TV show. The full segment of the show is available from YouTube website.

"We’ve been worrying about this for a long time. Now that it has happened, we need to rebuild our infrastructure in a way that is more adaptive to the way nature is changing around us." The Star-Ledger, November 4, Sunday, 2012.

“We need to be planning for something worse than this. I think this may create a lasting memory that will hopefully have an impact when we think about how to rebuild.” The Star-Ledger, November 5, 2012.

“We should rebuild these places because of the economic benefits, but we should build them to be more resilient. We can take this opportunity to build structures in a more adaptive way." The Bergen Record, November 12, 2012.

"Government is in a very tricky situation. (But) if we know the existing public infrastructure before the hurricane damage was already detrimental to public welfare, then why we should repair or replace it back to the original form and shape at the same location after it is damaged or washed away?" The Star-Ledger, November 19, 2012.

(Originally posted on November 8, updated on November 12 and 19)

New Jersey Must Strengthen Infrastructure before it is too late

The Star-Ledger, the largest newspaper in New Jersey, published an article titled "A year after Irene, experts say N.J. must strengthen infrastructure before it's too late" on August 25, 2012. I was interviewed by the staff writer Stephen Stirling, and was quoted in his article as saying "We are definitely very vulnerable. Our infrastructure is aging — that alone is going to make things like this happen more often. But add climate change on top of that, with more intense rain and more intense drought, and you’re going to see it more and more and more." The full article is available from the newspaper website.

Photo to the left shows flooded road, church, gas station, shop, and bridge along the Millstone River in Hillsborough, New Jersey. Rest of the photos that I took during Irene can be found in my water photo album.


April 28, 2013 Notes: This Star-Ledger article received a lot of attention from the infrastructure community immediately and received renewed attention after Hurricane Sandy.

Some evidence of the attention to the article follows:

(1) American Society of Civil Engineers' SmartBrief: Infrastructure investment needed to avoid catastrophic failures, Published on August 27, 2012. The brief reads:

A year after Tropical Storm Irene caused damage along the East Coast, New Jersey's outmoded infrastructure remains vulnerable to destructive weather events. Earlier this summer, the state experienced a failure in its water system, highlighting the need to make major investments in infrastructure. "We are definitely very vulnerable," said Qizhong Guo, a professor in the civil engineering department at Rutgers University. "Our infrastructure is aging -- that alone is going to make things like this happen more often." The American Society of Civil engineers says updates to the state's water and wastewater systems would cost almost $22 billion.

(2) Homeland Security News Wire: New Jersey infrastructure badly needs shoring up, and soon, Published on August 30, 2012.

(3) American European Insurance Group, Inc.'s Newsletter: One Year After Irene, Along Comes Sandy: What Lessons Did We Learn – and Not Learn?, Published in Fall 2012. A section of the newsletter article reads:

Aging Infrastructure Makes Us Vulnerable

When Sandy struck, the damage it inflicted on our infrastructure was particularly acute because much of the infrastructure was old and had not been designed to anticipate such ferocity.

Just a few months before Sandy arrived, Qizhong Guo, a professor in Rutgers University’s civil engineering department, speaking to NJ.com (August 25, 2012) stated, “We are definitely very vulnerable. . . . Our infrastructure is aging – that alone is going to make things like this [i.e., utility collapses resulting from Irene] happen more often. But add climate change on top of that, with more intense rain and more intense drought, and you’re going to see it more and more and more.”

2012 EWRI World Environmental and Water Resources Congress Attended

In May, I attended the EWRI Congress in Albuqerque, New Mexico, made a presentation titled "Maintenance Interval of Stormwater Hydrodynamic Separators: Effects of Traffic Volume and Other Site Variables," and moderated a conference session. I also presided over the annual meeting of the Chinese American Water Resources Assocication. In addition, I took a technical tour of Cochiti Dam on the Rio Grande. The primary purpose of the dam construction was to reduce flooding level at downstream Albuquerque.

Photo to the left shows almost empty reservoir behind the Cochiti Dam. Rest of the photos that I took can be found in my water photo album.

Restoration of Coal Mining Areas

In April, I was invited to join the mining restoration expert group, attend and present a set of recommendations at the 9th Sino-American Engineering and Technology Conference in Beijing, China. Prior to the gathering in Beijing, our group went to Anhui to have site visits and technical exchanges with local experts.

Photo to the left shows a restored subsided coal-mining area. Rest of the photos that I took can be found in my water photo album.

Retrofit Green Infrastructure to Existing Developments

Asbury Park Press published an article titled "Low-lying areas vs. flooding is a losing battle" on November 17, 2011. I was interviewed by the staff writer Michelle Gladden and was cited by her in the article. Part of the article reads: "Guo said the focus should be on the larger issue of not generating too much stormwater runoff by implementing changes to infrastructure designs. A more prudent temporary fix would be to retrofit 'green' infrastructure to properties designed prior to the more stringent 2004 guideline, he said." The full article is available from the newspaper website.

Photo to the left shows a stormwater bioretenti​on system that was installed at the Rutgers Stadium south end expansion site. Additional photos can be found from my water photo album.

Three Gorges Dam Visited

I visited Three Gorges Dam, as a part of the technical tour organized by the Cross Strait Water Resources Conference in late October.

Photo to the left shows downstream face of the Three Gorges Dam. Rest of the photos that I took can be found in my water photo album.

The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric dam that spans the Yangtze River in China. It is the world’s largest power station in terms of installed capacity (20,300 MW). Besides producing electricity, the dam was designed and constructed to increase the Yangtze River's shipping capacity, and reduce the potential for floods downstream by providing flood storage space.

Four Talks Given in China on Water Environment Protection and Restoration

In late October, I gave two lectures in Shanghai, one theme talk at the Cross Strait Water Resources Conference in Wuhan, and one lecture in the Water Resources Department of Guangdong Province. I reviewed U.S. experiences on water environment assessment, protection, and restoration. I also suggested the need to take further advantage of native microbs in the water environment restoration.

Photo to the left shows Shanghai on east and west sides of the Huangpu River. Rest of the photos that I took can be found in my water photo album.

Hurricane Irene: Implementation of Flood Management Plans for Existing Development Areas

Hurricane Irene landed on New Jersey in the early morning of August 28, 2011, resulting in heavy rainfall over a large area, leading to the large-scale flooding. Electrical wires were downed by the strong wind, and the road flooding caused delay in access and repair. Some electrical substations were flooded as well. Hundreds of thousands of residents were out of power for several days.

Many stormwater management plans for the existing development areas are already in place, and several major flood control projects are already on the drawing boards. It is yet another reminder for action and water infrastructure investment.

Photo to the left shows flooded gas station, shop, and bridge along the Millstone River in Hillsborough, New Jersey.

Rest of the photos that I took can be found in my water photo album.

Blue-Green Alage Bloom again in Dianchi Lake and new Daring Use of Water Hyacinth

I went to observe restoration efforts for Dianchi Lake in Kunming City, Yunnan Province while in China in July after giving water-environment lectures in GuangDong Province. The blue-green algae bloomed again, an every-year occurrence since 80's. I was told the lake water quality started to turn bad since the city was expanded and the raw sewage was collected and channeled into the lake. Much effort has been put into restoring the lake water quality with some success. The latest effort was to introduce water hyacinth into the lake (and its tributaries) to uptake nutrients from the water. Although water hyacinth is efficient in uptaking phosphorus and nitrogen from water, it can quickly grow out of control jamming the entire water surface. It was thus cultivated in the fenced-off areas and planned to be harvested (and beneficially-used) in a timely fashion. Lets hope for the best.

Photo to the left shows that entire water surface was covered by blue-green algae with the presence of introduced water hyacinth.

Rest of the photos that I took can be found in my algae bloom photo album and my water hyacinth photo album.

Water Environment Lectures in GuangDong, China

I was invited to give lectures at Sun Yat-Sun University and South China Institute of Environmental Sciences (one of the three research institutes under Ministry of Environmental Protection), both located in GuangZhou, China on July 11 and 12, respectively. The lecture was titled "Water Environment Assessment, Protection, and Restoration."

Photo to the left shows a restored urban stream in GuangZhou, Capital of GuangDong Province, that used to be a covered sewage channel. Photos of other locations that I visited in GuangDong can be found in my water photo album.

2011 EWRI World Environmental and Water Resources Congress Attended

I attended the EWRI Congress from May 22 to 26 in Palm Springs, California. Our two papers were presented at the Congress and published in the proceedings. They are titled "Maintenance Interval for Stormwater Hydrodynamic Separators" and "Information for Inspection and Maintenance of Stormwater Manufactured Treatment Devices," respectively.

Photo to the left shows fan palms native to California. Additional photos that I took can be found in my water photo album.

Saint Anthony Falls

I attended the International Symposium on the Future of Environmental Hydraulics on May 12 in Minneapolis, organized by the St. Anthony Falls Laboratory, University of Minnesota.

Photo to the left shows St. Anthony Falls, with downtown Minneapolis in the background. Additional photos that I took can be found in my water photo album.

Replenished Beach at Atlantic City

Snow-Fed Millstone River

Beautiful Fall on Raritan River (near my office)

Pipe up the Leaking Oil: An Initial Success!

BP announced earlier today that "oil and gas is being received onboard the Discoverer Enterprise following the successful placement of a containment cap on top of the Deepwater Horizon's failed blow-out preventer (BOP). This follows the cutting and removal of the riser pipe from the top of the BOP's lower marine riser package (LMRP)."

Congratulations to BP, U.S. Government, and everybody involved!

I hope performance of the system would be enhanced soon to minimize or eliminate the residual oil leak around the imperfectly fitted/sealed cap.

Pipe up the Leaking Oil - The New LMRP-Cap Attempt to Succeed

It has been more than one month since BP (British Petroleum) and the U.S. Government started to attempt stopping the catastrophic oil leak at Gulf of Mexico. I have not paid much attention until yesterday when I heard that an estimated 20 million gallons of oil have already leaked out, and the latest attempt to "top kill" the leak failed.

In general, it is easier to channel out the flow than to plug the flow. I hope the new "flow channeling" attempt, using the Lower Marine Riser Package (LMRP) Cap Containment System, would work.

The idea (see the graph) is to connect the LMRP Cap to oil outlet of the Blowout Preventor (BOP), with the help of Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs). The oil would then be piped up to the waiting surface ship, approximately 5,000 ft above.

The cap (with the pipe on top) must be lined up with the BOP outlet, and be connected and sealed to it, all to be done inside the oil gusher under an extremely high ambient sea water pressure (above 2,000 pounds per squared inch) and dark, turbid environment. I visually estimate the gushing oil would have a flowing velocity of only about a foot per second. The relatively weak oil gushing velocity, alone, should not create a problem for the pipe lining up and connecting. The high ambient pressure would not be a huge inconvenience either as long as pressures inside and outside the cap (and the pipe) are maintained essentially the same.

The question is whether this new attempt would succeed. I think it would. Many lessons have been learned from the previous attempts, especially on formation of the gas hydrates (the ice crystals).

There is also a concern about whether the new attempt would make the matter worse if it were to fail. I do not think it would make it worse, at least not significantly. There are multiple openings (at least two large ones) along the collapsed riser pipe at this time. Cross section area of the sole opening to be cut at top of the BOP should not be much larger, if at all, than sum of the areas of multiple openings. Moreover, change in the head losses would have a minor effect, considering the oil pressure head available.

The oil leak and subsequent several failed attempts (thus far) to stop the leak, yet again, highlight the importance of disaster prevention, preparation, response, and emergency engineering measures.

Image credit: BP

Severe Drought Hit Southwest China

Impacts: The dry spell has ravaged southwest China for months, affecting 61.3 million residents and 5 million hectares (12 million acres) of crops in Guizhou, Yunnan, Sichuan, Chongqing, and Guangxi. The drought has left 18 million residents and 11.7 million heads of livestock in the region with drinking water shortages and caused direct economic losses of 23.7 billion yuan (3.5 billion U.S. dollars).

Emergency responses: 30-thousand soldiers and 200-thousand reservists are busy with the relief work. They delivered 44-thousand tons (12 million U.S. gallons) of fresh water and dug nearly 1-thousand wells in the drought-plagued region; An effort is also being made to induce artificial rain; etc.

Causes: Less than a half of normal rainfall and continuous high temperature, resulting from the El Nino weather pattern in the tropical Pacific Ocean since last Summer; Karst topography in some areas where the surface water is leaked to the almost intractable subterranean drainage system; Contamination of some source waters by human activities; Lack of drought-defense engineering measures; People farming and living sparsely in remote mountainous villages making them difficult to reach during the emergency response; etc. Identifying the causes would hopefully lead to proper long-term solutions.

Photo: Rice paddy fields in the mountainous area, from news.163.com

New Jersey Flooded, Again, by March 2010 Nor'easter

Five to eight inches of rain hit New Jersey causing serious flooding, again. Strong winds also uprooted trees and downed power lines. The severe flooding has again triggered debates on conquer (engineering projects) vs. retreat (home buyouts). The debates tend to go on forever, but we probably can not afford to wait much longer.

Photo: Flooding along Passaic River, from chinanews.com