About Us


Welcome to the Applied River Engineering Center (AREC). We are at your service to help provide you engineering support, resources, and the latest technologies as they apply to rivers and navigation design in the United States and abroad. We are made up of a team of specialized engineers and technicians committed to help deliver solutions to a variety of problems related to river engineering, sedimentation and scour, navigation channel design, bank erosion and stabilization, dredging reduction, river restoration, geomorphology, and a host of other river related issues.

AREC was established in 1995 by the Hydraulics Branch within the Engineering Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. District. The purpose of AREC is to conduct applied river engineering in an office/ laboratory environment. Hydraulic Sediment Response (HSR) Models and other tools are used at our facility to help our staff solve problems for customers and stakeholders.

Since our inception, many new river engineering and environmental designs have been implemented on the Mississippi River. We have also provided studies and designs on other rivers including the Missouri, Kaskaskia, Atchafalaya, Brazos, and smaller tributaries. All of these initiatives were conducted for our customers including the River Industry Action Committee (RIAC), landowners, private facility owners, local municipalities, various interest groups, as well as agency partners such as the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, the Missouri Department of Conservation, and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. We have partnered our work with other Districts within the Corps including the Memphis, Rock Island, Vicksburg, New Orleans, Galveston, and Kansas City Districts.