THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 26, 1996 TAG: 9605260058
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY CATHERINE KOZAK, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DUCK LENGTH: 57 lines
That bright yellow ``V'' bobbing in the sound off N.C. Route 12 could solve one of the military's most difficult problems: taming the ocean.
In military-speak, it's a quarter-scale prototype of a Rapidly Installed Breakwater, or RIB, a device that will diminish the impact of waves while military supplies offshore are unloaded onto smaller shore-bound water craft.
``The critical nature of this to the armed forces can not be understated. . field research chief at the Army Corps of Engineers waterways experiment station in Duck. ``This is a very important problem to the military.''
With each side of the V splayed into the water 150 feet, the contraption attracted plenty of stares from jet skiers and other passers-by when it was placed in the water Thursday, Birkemeier said. It took researchers about two days to assemble it on the nearby beach.
Constructed of light-gauge sheet metal, light foam and yellow vinyl, the experimental floating breakwater includes devices inside and outside each side to measure wave height. Initial results are promising, researchers say.
``It works great,'' Birkemeier said. ``It kills the waves.''
Don Resio, the senior scientist at the Duck facility, said the RIB is intended to assist offshore supplying during military operations dubbed LOTS (Logistics Over the Shore). LOTS are used when there is no major port available, such as during Desert Storm.
``The military have encountered problems using LOTS,'' he said. ``If waves get bigger than three-foot, the operation has to be shut down.''
Resio said scientists will evaluate how the small-scale RIB interacts with 1- to 2-foot waves in the sound. By pointing the apex into the waves, the device should reduce the waves' height by 80 percent inside and behind the ``V,'' he said, thereby providing stiller waters while ships transfer supplies.
For example, Resio said, a 10-foot wave on the outside of the RIB would only be a two-foot wave on the inside.
Eventually, Resio said, the hope is that the field test of the prototype - which cost about $1 million - will result in development of a perfected full-scale model. Projected to be completed by the turn of the century, the 1,000-foot-legged, corrugated fiberglass RIB would probably cost about $2 million, not including research and development, Resio said.
Capable of shielding a 700-foot ship from waves, the full-scale RIB will result in a ``tremendous savings'' for the military, Birkemeier said. And, ultimately, the device will likely be used for civilian purposes. Meanwhile, Birkemeier said, researchers are counting on the Outer Banks' stiff June winds to give the RIB a worthy test run. He said the experiment will be completed June 13. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
DREW C. WILSON/The Virginian-Pilot
Engineers, assembling a Rapidly Installed Breakwater at their
research facility at Duck, hope the RIB will help reduce waves - a
crucial problem affecting the military. by CNB