M.Sc. student, Ocean Engineering. Martin is an active-duty officer in the Navy’s Ocean Facilities Program. When he isn’t researching or in class, he spends most of his time working out in preparation for Navy Dive School, which he will attend after graduating from Texas A&M University. For his research he is currently exploring the implementation of a “Shade Curtain Barrier” concept at San Luis Pass in Galveston, Texas. The Shade Curtain Barrier is an innovative surge protection concept developed by former M.Sc. student Malou van Schaijk from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. This barrier would be integrated into an existing or newly designed bridge structure at San Luis Pass and would primarily consist of a Kevlar fabric membrane, which would serve as the main material for the barrier. It would be rolled down like a shade curtain during major surge events and drape over the active sediment bed at the pass. 
Martin Craig has calculated the lateral forces that a 1/100-year storm surge would generate on the barrier and transfer to the bridge structure and has been working on sediment bed seepage flow computations beneath the deployed shade curtain. He has obtained the as-built drawings of the San Luis Pass from Galveston County to determine the maximum horizontal load the bridge can withstand. If the Shade Curtain Barrier can be implemented at San Luis Pass or other bridges with similar designs, it may offer a more cost-effective solution for surge protection with minimal structural footprint on the highly dynamic sediment bed. Back to Current CEL Team …
