81 FR 18643 - Announcement of Requirements and Registration for a Prize Competition Seeking: Detecting the Movement of Soils (Internal Erosion) Within Earthen Dams, Canals, Levees, and their Foundations

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Reclamation

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 62 (March 31, 2016)

The Bureau of Reclamation, in collaboration with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is seeking new methods for detecting the movement (erosion) of soils in earthen structures and foundations. These methods may detect internal erosion either directly or indirectly (detecting properties that typically indicate internal erosion is taking place). The goal is to detect soil movement earlier than occurs by current visual inspection and instrumentation methods.

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 62 (Thursday, March 31, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 18643-18645]
From the Federal Register Online  [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-07275]


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DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Bureau of Reclamation

[RR08100000, 16XR0680A1, RY.1541CH20.60IR161]


Announcement of Requirements and Registration for a Prize 
Competition Seeking: Detecting the Movement of Soils (Internal Erosion) 
Within Earthen Dams, Canals, Levees, and their Foundations

AGENCY: Bureau of Reclamation, Interior.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Bureau of Reclamation, in collaboration with the U.S. Army 
Corps of Engineers, is seeking new methods for detecting the movement 
(erosion) of soils in earthen structures and foundations. These methods 
may detect internal erosion either directly or indirectly (detecting 
properties that typically indicate internal erosion is taking place). 
The goal is to detect soil movement earlier than occurs by current 
visual inspection and instrumentation methods.

DATES: Listed below are the specific dates pertaining to this prize 
competition:
    1. Submission period begins on March 31, 2016.
    2. A webinar concerning this prize competition will be held on 
April 7, 2016. Instructions for participating in the webinar are 
included in the on-line postings at the addresses shown below. The 
webinar will also be recorded and posted at these same addresses.
    3. Submission period ends on May 10, 2016.
    4. Judging period ends on July 11, 2016.
    5. Winners announced by July 29, 2016.

[[Page 18644]]


ADDRESSES: The Detecting the Movement of Soils (Internal Erosion) 
Within Earthen Dams, Canals, Levees, and their Foundations Prize 
Competition will be posted on the following crowd-sourcing platforms 
where Solvers can register for this prize competition:
    1. The Water Pavilion located at the InnoCentive Challenge Center: 
https://www.innocentive.com/ar/challenge/browse.
    2. U.S. Federal Government Challenge Platform: www.Challenge.gov.
    InnoCentive, Inc. is administering this challenge under a challenge 
support services contract with the Bureau of Reclamation. Challenge.gov 
will re-direct the Solver community to the InnoCentive Challenge Center 
as the administrator for this prize competition. Additional details for 
this prize competition, including background information, figures, and 
the Challenge Agreement specific for this prize competition, can be 
accessed through either of these prize competition web addresses. The 
Challenge Agreement contains more details of the prize competition 
rules and terms that Solvers must agree with to be eligible to compete.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Challenge Manager: Dr. David Raff, 
Science Advisor, Bureau of Reclamation, (202) 513-0516, [email protected]; 
Dr. Bobbi Jo Merten, (303) 445-2380, [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Bureau of Reclamation (Reclamation) is 
announcing the following prize competition in compliance with 15 U.S. 
Code 3719, Prize Competitions.
    Prize Competition Summary: According to the American Society of 
Civil Engineers' 2013 Report Card for America's Infrastructure, there 
are nearly 160,000 kilometers of levees and 85,000 dams that provide 
flood protection, water storage, and hydropower services for millions 
of people in the United States. Many of these dams are owned and 
operated by Reclamation or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). 
The USACE also owns and manages a significant portion of the nation's 
levee inventory. There are also thousands of kilometers of water 
delivery canals in the United States, with Reclamation owning about 
13,000 kilometers of such. Some of these structures are over one-
hundred years old, so it is important to ensure that the structures are 
sound, performing well, and able to continue providing the critical 
services of storing water, delivering water, and flood protection.
    Both Reclamation and USACE monitor, inspect, and assess the 
condition and performance of dams and other earthen embankments. While 
inspection and condition assessment programs are effective ways to 
protect the public and property, these current methods are resource 
intensive and cannot reliably detect internal erosion early in the 
process. Internal erosion can take place over a long period of time, 
but often remains invisible (inside or below the structure) until 
serious damage occurs, placing lives, property, critical water supply 
or flood retention capabilities at risk. The ability to reliably detect 
internal erosion early in the process would help Reclamation, USACE, 
and all dam, levee, and canal owners to reduce risks by encouraging 
early-intervention.
    There are several internal erosion mechanisms, but all involve the 
movement of soil to an exit point. If soil movement can be detected and 
localized inside the structure in the early stages of erosion, flaws 
could be mitigated and failures prevented. A solution is being pursued 
through a prize competition because the Bureau of Reclamation and the 
collaborating Federal agencies view it beneficial to seek innovative 
solutions from those beyond the usual sources of potential solvers and 
experts that commonly work in the geotechnical engineering domain. We 
find ourselves often wondering if someone, somewhere, may know a better 
way of detecting internal erosion in embankments than the methods we 
currently use. The prize competition approach enables us to reach a new 
source of potential Solvers to generate new and timely solutions that 
would not likely be accomplished by standard contractual methods.
    This is an Ideation Challenge, which has the following unique 
features:
     There is a guaranteed award. The awards will be paid to 
the best submission(s) as solely determined by the Seeker. The total 
payout will be $20,000, with at least one award being no smaller than 
$5,000 and no award being less than $2,500.
     All intellectual property rights, if any, in the idea or 
concept demonstrated by the proposed solution will remain with the 
solver. Upon submission of a proposed solution to this challenge, each 
solver grants to the seeker a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, 
non-exclusive license and right to use, disclose, reproduce, prepare 
derivative works, distribute copies to the public, and perform publicly 
and display publicly, in any manner and for any purpose, and to have or 
permit others to do so. Notwithstanding granting the seeker a 
perpetula, non-exclusive license for the proposed solution, the solver 
retains ownership of the idea or concept demonstrated by the proposed 
solution.
     The Seeker believes there might be a potential for future 
collaboration with awarded Solver(s), although such collaboration is 
not guaranteed. The Seeker may also encourage Solver(s) to further 
develop and test their winning submissions through subsequent round(s) 
of competition. Solvers should make it clear if they have the ability 
for subsequent design and development phases and would be willing to 
consider future collaborations and/or subsequent competitions.
    Technical Requirements. Any proposed solution should address some 
or all of the following technical requirements. You must meet 
requirement No. 5 but need not meet all other requirements to be 
eligible for an award.
    1. Provide a 3D spatial representation of the earthen structure and 
associated foundation (to a depth equal to the height of the 
embankment), identifying zones of active internal erosion.
    a. Levees and canals are relatively lower in height (~1 to 3 
meters), but longer in length (1000+ meters).
    b. Dams are relatively greater in height (up to 100+ meters), but 
shorter in length.
    2. Detect internal erosion before it is visible at the ground 
surface. A zone (volume) of unstable moving particles on the order of 1 
cubic meter at any location within or under the embankment is 
considered significant for the internal erosion process. Methods that 
can detect the movement of smaller volumes of particles are preferred.
    3. Allow for a time lapse monitoring interval on the order of weeks 
to months. Preferably the monitoring of the embankment would be 
continuous and provided with alarm capability based on predefined 
thresholds.
    4. Quantify a rate of particle movement, preferably a rate of 
growth of internal erosion features.
    5. NOT compromise the structural integrity of the embankment or 
foundation materials; it must be environmentally inert, and must adhere 
to a philosophy of ``do no harm''.
    Although direct measures of internal erosion are preferred, 
indirect measurements of internal erosion, such as approaches that 
monitor changes to the phreatic surface or saturation of the embankment 
will be considered as well.
    Project Deliverables: This is an Ideation Challenge that requires 
only a written proposal to be submitted. At

[[Page 18645]]

least one solution will be deemed the winner. The submission should 
include:
    1. Detailed description of a direct or indirect method for 
detecting internal erosion that is not widely used today. Only 
significant improvements to existing methods will be considered for 
award.
    2. Rationale for why the method can meet the technical requirements 
above. Note: A general concept is needed, but is not considered a 
solution by itself. The Solver must describe with ``a high level of 
technical detail'' how the system would meet or not meet each of the 
attributes described above. The Solver should expect that their 
submittal will be reviewed by experts in multiple fields of engineering 
and science. Examples and literature references of where similar 
techniques are used and how they are used will be helpful to support 
the validity of the solution.
    3. A list of equipment and materials is required. Discussion should 
include expected lifetime of any equipment; size and invasiveness to 
the embankment structure; detection speed, accuracy and estimated 
costs.
    4. The Solver needs to describe how deployable and workable the 
system would be under a wide variety of environmental conditions such 
as those found in typical dam, levee and canal embankments.
    The discussion accompanying the Solver's proposal should:
    5. Clearly identify detection limits of methods, such as: What is 
the minimum size of soil particle the method can detect? Does the 
baseline condition of the embankment, groundwater, or ambient 
environment impact the performance of the method?
    6. Identify how and where the method will be installed. Is the 
method weather proof and tamper proof? Are there any limitations to the 
method installation or conditions required for performance?
    7. Identify the temporal resolution or temporal limitations of the 
solution. How long does the method take to deploy? What are measurement 
and processing time limitations?
    Submitted proposals should not include any personally identifiable 
information that the Solver does not want to make public, or any 
information that the Solver may consider as their own Intellectual 
Property which they do not want to share.
    Judging: After the Challenge deadline, the Seeker will evaluate the 
submissions and make a decision with regards to the Winning 
Solution(s). All Solvers that submitted a proposal will be notified on 
the status of their submissions; however, no detailed evaluation of 
individual submissions will be provided. Decisions by the Seeker cannot 
be contested.
    Submitted solutions will be evaluated by a Judging Panel composed 
of scientists, engineers, and other technical experts. The Judging 
Panel will also have consultation access to technical experts outside 
of their expertise, as deemed necessary, to evaluate specific 
submissions. The Judging Panel will assess the merits of the solution 
by the degree upon which they meet the technical requirements provided 
above, by the potential utility (i.e., adaptability, scalability, 
readiness for development), and by originality (i.e., novel extension 
of current knowledge).
    Eligibility Rules: To be able to win a prize under this 
competition, an individual or entity must:
    1. Agree to the rules of the competition (15 U.S. Code Sec.  
3719(g)(1));
    2. Be an entity that is incorporated in and maintains a primary 
place of business in the United States, or (b) in the case of an 
individual, a citizen or permanent resident of the United States (15 
U.S. Code Sec.  3719(g)(3));
    3. Not be a Federal entity or Federal employee acting within the 
scope of their employment; (15 U.S. Code Sec.  3719(g)(4));
    4. Assume risks and waive claims against the Federal Government and 
its related entities (15 U.S. Code Sec.  3719(i)(1)(B)); and,
    5. Not use Federal facilities, or consult with Federal employees 
during the competition unless the facilities and employees are made 
available to all individuals and entities participating in the 
competition on an equitable basis.
    The following individuals or entities are not eligible regardless 
of whether they meet the criteria set forth above:
    1. Any individual who employs an evaluator on the Judging Panel or 
otherwise has a material business relationship or affiliation with any 
Judge.
    2. Any individual who is a member of any Judge's immediate family 
or household.
    3. The Seeker, participating organizations, and any advertising 
agency, contractor or other individual or organization involved with 
the design, production, promotion, execution, or distribution of the 
prize competition; all employees, representatives and agents thereof; 
and all members of the immediate family or household of any such 
individual, employee, representative, or agent.
    4. Any individual or entity that uses Federal funds to develop the 
proposed solution now or any time in the past, unless such use is 
consistent with the grant award, or other applicable Federal funds 
awarding document. NOTE: Submissions that propose to improve or adapt 
existing federally funded technologies for the solution sought in this 
prize competition are eligible.
    Consultation: Geotechnical engineers, facility managers, and 
technical specialists from across Reclamation and USACE were consulted 
in identifying and selecting the topic of this prize competition. 
Direct and indirect input from various stakeholders and partners 
associated with the geotechnical engineering program efforts by these 
agencies were also considered. In addition, the Reclamation maintains 
an open invitation to the public to suggest prize competition topics at 
www.usbr.gov/research/challenges.
    Public Disclosure: InnoCentive, Inc. is administering this 
challenge under a challenge support services contract with Reclamation. 
Participation is conditioned on providing the data required on 
InnoCentive's online registration form. Personal data will be processed 
in accordance with InnoCentive's Privacy Policy which can be located at 
http://www.innocentive.com/privacy.php. Before including your address, 
phone number, email address, or other personal identifying information 
in your proposal, you should be aware that the Seeker is under no 
obligation to withhold such information from public disclosure, and it 
may be made publicly available at any time. Neither InnoCentive nor the 
Seeker is responsible for human error, theft, destruction, or damage to 
proposed solutions, or other factors beyond its reasonable control. 
Solver assumes any and all risks and waives any and all claims against 
the Seeker and its related entities, except in the case of willful 
misconduct, for any injury, death, damage, or loss of property, 
revenue, or profits, whether direct, indirect, or consequential, 
arising from participation in this competition, whether the injury, 
death, damage, or loss arises through negligence or otherwise.

    Dated: March 28, 2016.
 David Raff,
Science Advisor .
[FR Doc. 2016-07275 Filed 3-30-16; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 4332-90-P