FHWA Hydraulics Research Laboratory

The Situation

Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and State Transportation Agencies (STAs) nationwide needed design guidance to minimize and mitigate flood impacts on our nation’s highways. They turned to GKY & Associates, Inc. for technical and project management expertise.

The Solution

GKY operated FHWA’s hydraulics research laboratory for over 20 years, performing research to develop general guidance as well as site-specific solutions for flooding and scour issues.

We provided advanced physical modeling and 1-, 2-, and 3-dimensional hydrodynamic and sediment transport numerical modeling, extending the state-of-the-art in hydraulics design. Through our work, FHWA and state agencies received the guidance they needed to anticipate and mitigate flood damage throughout our nation’s rural and urban highway systems.

GKY uses advanced laser instrumentation to measure flow fields around model bridge decks and other structures.