A top scientist at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer Research and Development Center has been named a Top 25 Newsmaker of 2008 by Engineering News-Record magazine.

Dr. Donald Resio, a senior research scientist at ERDC since 1994, was honored in the weekly’s annually published rankings for his work in developing a rapid repair for levee breaches.

Resio lead a team of scientists commissioned by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security following Hurricane Katrina that formed a fabric tube capable of plugging holes in levees longer than the length of breaches and larger than water depths at breaches.

The tube is dropped into the water and filled 80 percent with liquid. Kept afloat by air in the tube, the device makes its way to the breach via the push of the floodwater. It rolls and locks into place as it nears the break, held there by the law of physics.

Prior to the creation of the tubes, only sandbags had been used to stop high volumetric flows at levee breaches that occurred in New Orleans during the devastating 2005 hurricane.

Development took 13 months and resulted in tubes specializing in rapid spillway/earthen dam breaches, long shallow breaches and deep/steep breaches. A final test is set for later this year.

Resio serves as technical leader for the Coastal Military Engineering research program and technical manager for the Advanced Technology Concept Demonstration for military logistics.

A holder of bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Virginia, Resio also won the Corps’ Researcher of the Year, Department of the Army Meritorious Service and other awards in the past year.

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Contact Danny Barrett Jr. at dbarrett@vicksburgpost.com.