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| St. Anthony Falls Laboratory | |
|---|---|
| Name | St. Anthony Falls Laboratory |
| Established | 1938 |
| Location | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Affiliation | University of Minnesota |
| Type | Research laboratory |
St. Anthony Falls Laboratory is a hydraulics and hydrology research laboratory affiliated with the University of Minnesota located near Minneapolis, Minnesota, adjacent to the Mississippi River and the St. Anthony Falls waterfall. The laboratory serves as a nexus for experimental and computational research in fluid mechanics, sediment transport, and river engineering, hosting collaborations with national laboratories, federal agencies, and international universities.
Founded in 1938 during the era of New Deal infrastructure investment influenced by figures such as Franklin D. Roosevelt and institutions like the Civilian Conservation Corps, the laboratory evolved through mid-20th-century projects tied to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and regional development initiatives associated with Minneapolis–Saint Paul. Early directors engaged with researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the U.S. Geological Survey, and the Smithsonian Institution on flood control and navigation studies similar to work at the Bonneville Dam and projects informed by lessons from the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927. During the Cold War period, the lab connected with engineers associated with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and hydrodynamicists collaborating with Caltech and Columbia University, while contributing to river restoration ideas later echoed by the Clean Water Act era and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In recent decades the lab expanded programs paralleling initiatives at Georgia Institute of Technology, Purdue University, University of California, Berkeley, and Imperial College London to examine urban waterways and infrastructure resilience after events like Hurricane Katrina.
The facility occupies riverfront structures near historic mills along the Mississippi River and incorporates large-scale physical models including a 60-meter flume, wave basins, and sediment recirculation systems inspired by designs used at Delft University of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Laboratory infrastructure includes high-speed imaging suites comparable to setups at Sandia National Laboratories and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, advanced sensor arrays akin to deployments by National Aeronautics and Space Administration teams, and computing clusters interoperable with resources at Argonne National Laboratory and National Center for Atmospheric Research. Campus amenities connect to the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus and nearby facilities such as the Bell Museum and regional innovation centers modeled after the Kavli Institute and Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Researchers pursue problems in fluvial geomorphology, sediment transport, and hydropower similar to studies at Tennessee Valley Authority and Bonneville Power Administration projects, while also tackling urban stormwater and watershed management challenges addressed by Environmental Protection Agency programs. Computational fluid dynamics work uses software libraries popular at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Stanford University, and University of Cambridge groups, with applications to dam safety examined alongside Federal Emergency Management Agency guidance and international standards like those promoted by the World Bank and United Nations Environment Programme. Ongoing themes include ecohydraulics with links to research at Duke University, riverine ecology connected to Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, and sedimentary geology paralleling studies at University of Texas at Austin and University of Colorado Boulder.
The lab supports undergraduate and graduate instruction coordinated with the University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering and postgraduate training similar to fellowships at Fulbright Program and National Science Foundation research traineeships. Outreach programs include K–12 engagement modeled after initiatives from the American Geophysical Union and public exhibitions reminiscent of displays at the Science Museum of Minnesota and Exploratorium. Professional development workshops have served practicing engineers from firms like CH2M Hill, AECOM, and Jacobs Engineering Group, echoing continuing education offerings at American Society of Civil Engineers conferences and summer schools at ETH Zurich.
The laboratory maintains partnerships with federal entities including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Geological Survey, National Science Foundation, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and with industry partners from the hydropower, environmental consulting, and infrastructure sectors such as General Electric, Xylem Inc., and Black & Veatch. Academic collaborations extend to Iowa State University, Northwestern University, University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, and international partners including McGill University and Technical University of Denmark. Project consortia have involved foundations like the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and multinational development institutions such as the World Bank and Asian Development Bank.
Key contributions include experimental investigations of scour processes informing design standards used by the Federal Highway Administration and flood risk assessments tied to guidelines from the National Flood Insurance Program. The lab contributed to river restoration methods applied in projects like the Los Angeles River revitalization and monitoring approaches implemented after Hurricane Sandy. Collaborative models supported hydropower optimization studies relevant to Tennessee Valley Authority operations and sediment management strategies used at Hoover Dam-era projects. The lab's work on urban flooding and stormwater green infrastructure has influenced policies in Minneapolis–Saint Paul Metropolitan Area planning and informed design practices discussed at International Conference on Coastal Engineering.
Governance is administered through the University of Minnesota's matrix structure with oversight from college-level leadership and advisory boards composed of representatives from agencies such as the National Science Foundation, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and private-sector stakeholders including Jacobs Engineering Group and Black & Veatch. Funding sources include competitive grants from the National Science Foundation, cooperative agreements with the U.S. Geological Survey, sponsored research from corporations like General Electric and Xylem Inc., and philanthropic support following models used by foundations such as the McKnight Foundation and the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. The lab adheres to reporting practices aligned with federal requirements from the Office of Management and Budget and peer-review processes common to National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine reviews.
Category:Hydraulic laboratories Category:University of Minnesota