Ronald R. Copeland, Ph.D., P.E., Specialist in River Engineering, Sedimentation Engineering, & Hydraulics Dr. Ronald R. Copeland graduated from California State University at Los Angeles with a BS in Engineering in 1968. He then attended Colorado State University where he earned an MS in Civil Engineering in 1975. In 1993, he earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Civil Engineering at University of Iowa. Dr. Copeland retired from the US Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station in 2002 with 32 years of professional experience in hydraulic design, hydrologic engineering, river engineering, sedimentation engineering, the development and application of computer programs, and technology transfer. Dr. Copeland's experience includes serving as hydraulic engineer for the Los Angeles District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from 1970-1979, as research hydraulic engineer for the Spillways and Channels Branch, Hydraulics Lab, WES from 1979-1983, and as research hydraulic engineer for the Rivers and Streams Branch, Hydraulics Laboratory, WES from 1983-1993 when he retired. During his time as an engineer, Dr. Copeland was responsible for formulating and guiding research related to the hydraulic design of stream restoration projects and the hydraulic design of vegetated flood control channels. He developed a field data collection program to fill the gaps in available information. These data were used to develop new geomorphic methods for determining channel dimensions. He developed a new method for calculating channel dimensions for a stable channel, which provides for the effects of sediment transport, bed forms, and bank roughness. Dr. Copeland was the Principle Investigator of the Numerical Sedimentation Model Study to predict the quantity and fate of sediment suspended by tow boats in the Upper Mississippi River and for the Dredging Alternatives Study on the Lower Mississippi River for a range of maintenance alternatives. This study required writing new dredging algorithms for the HEC-6W computer program that allowed for simulation of specific dredging capacities based on prototype dredges, dredging in specific reaches in specified directions, and options for disposal of dredged material out of the channel or into the water column. He was also principle investigator of the Numerical Sedimentation Study Model to determine the effect of sediment deposition in an existing concrete channel on roughness and water-surface elevations. During this study Dr. Copeland developed a new sediment transport equation for sand and gravel bed streams, a new method to evaluate hydraulic roughness in a concrete channel where the bed was sometimes covered with gravel, and a means for calculating hydraulic roughness in a channel with variable roughness on the walls and bed of the channel. Dr. Copeland has been an instructor at numerous training courses. Some of his most significant are Hydraulic Design of Flood Control Channels, Sedimentation Investigations in Rivers and Reservoirs, Risk-Based Analysis for Flood Damage Reduction, and Channel Restoration Design using SAM. He also served as Chairman of the Federal Interagency Sediment and the Corps of Engineers Committee on Channel Stabilization. Some of his honors are Water Resources Support Center, Inter Center Award with HQUSACE, HEC, and IWR for teamwork on risk-based analysis for flood damage reduction October 1993 and Engineer of the year for Hydraulics 1999, Mississippi Section ASCE. Return to About Us Copyright © 2005 Mobile Boundary Hydraulics, PLLC