Three IIHR researchers were recently recognized by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) with the 2015 Karl Emil Hilgard Hydraulic Prize. The winners are IIHR Research Engineer A. Jacob Odgaard, Director of Engineering Services Troy Lyons, and Hydraulic Engineer Andrew Craig. Their winning paper, “Baffle-Drop Structure Design Relationships,” was published in the ASCE Journal of Hydraulic Engineering in September 2013. The paper outlines the design specifications for the baffle-drop structure, a crucial component in the design of the Thames Tideway Tunnels project for the city of London.

The Hilgard award is given annually to the author or authors of a paper concerning a problem related to water flow and is determined by ASCE’s Environmental and Water Resources Institute.

Craig, Lyons, and Odgaard are just three of the many IIHR faculty, staff, and students behind the massive Thames Tideway Tunnel project, which will intercept and store sewage from London’s outdated sewer system via newly constructed tunnels. IIHR’s role in the project is to conduct physical modeling in the lab to simulate the movement of water and air through the many interception chambers, control gates, dropshafts, and deaeration chambers required to move the flow from the surface into the tunnel system.

Odgaard previously received the ASCE Hydraulic Structures Medal in 2001 for his design of river restoration and control.

Craig, Lyons, and Odgaard will accept the award at the World Environmental and Water Resources Congress May 17–21 in Austin, Texas. The Hilgard Award was instituted in 1939 through an endowment created by Karl Emil Hilgard (1858–1938), a German-Swiss hydraulician and bridge engineer for the Northern Pacific Railroad.