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  • Infrastructure Innovation: New Poe Lock arrestor arm is the largest U.S. civil works component produced by 3D printer

    As America’s civil works infrastructure ages, managers need innovative solutions to replace parts that have been in service for nearly a century. Often, these original components were fabricated using vintage material and manufacturing methods, making them costly, burdensome and time-consuming to replace. Responding to this need, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is employing cutting-edge 3D-printing techniques to manufacture these parts faster and at a lower cost while maintaining, and even improving, their properties.

  • Infrastructure Innovation: New Poe Lock arrestor arm is the largest U.S. civil works component produced by 3D printer

    As America’s civil works infrastructure ages, managers need innovative solutions to replace parts that have been in service for nearly a century. Often, these original components were fabricated using vintage material and manufacturing methods, making them costly, burdensome and time-consuming to replace. Responding to this need, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is employing cutting-edge 3D printing techniques to manufacture these parts faster and at a lower cost while maintaining, and even improving, their properties. In early March, the USACE Detroit District installed the largest U.S. civil works infrastructure component produced by a 3D printer – a 12-foot-long metal part for the ship arrestor system on the Poe Lock, one of the two active locks on the Soo Locks facility. Building on years of research performed by the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), the part was manufactured in 12 weeks, compared to a projected 18-month lead time for conventional manufacturing. The part was installed, tested and commissioned during the Soo Locks’ winter maintenance cycle. The rapid repair ensured normal operations at Poe Lock, a major transit point for domestic iron ore.

  • Freight Fluidity for the Port of Baltimore: Vessel Approach and Maritime Mobility Metrics

    Abstract: The United States Army Corps of Engineers is tasked with maintaining waterborne transportation system elements. Understanding channel utilization by vessels informs decisions regarding operations, maintenance, and investments in those elements. Historically, investment decisions have been informed by safety, environmental considerations, and projected economic benefits of alleviating channel restrictions or shipping delays (usually derived from models). However, quantifying causes and impacts of shipping delays based on actual historical vessel location data and then identifying which causes could be ameliorated through investment has been out of reach until recently. In this study, Automatic Identification System vessel position reports were used to develop quantitative measures of transit and dwell-time reliabilities for commercial vessels calling at the Port of Baltimore, Maryland. This port has two deep-water approaches: Chesapeake Bay and the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal. Descriptive metrics were determined for each approach, including port cycle time, harbor stay hours, travel time inbound, and travel time outbound. Then, additional performance measures were calculated: baseline travel time, travel time index, and planning time index. The key finding of this study is that the majority of variability in port cycle time is due to the variability in harbor stay hours, not from channel conditions or channel restrictions.

  • Corps of Engineers is hosting an open house to gather ideas on managing its dredged material

    ST. PAUL, Minn. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, is hosting an open house June 22, from 5:30 – 8 p.m., to gather the public’s input on its Mississippi River dredged material management plans near Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin.

  • A Winter to Remember: Corps of Engineers continues annual winter maintenance fight to preserve aging infrastructure

    The American Society of Civil Engineers 2021 infrastructure report card released in March was less than perfect for the nation’s inland navigation system. According to the report, they gave the Inland waterway infrastructure a D+. The ASCE report said the infrastructure "includes locks and dams as well as navigation channels” but added that shipping delays cost up to $739 per hour for an average tow within the United States.

  • 21-006 Columbia and Snake river navigation locks will close March 6 for annual maintenance

    COLUMBIA & SNAKE RIVERS, Ore. & Wash. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Portland and Walla Walla districts will close all Corps navigation locks on the Columbia and Snake rivers March 6 at 6 a.m. for regularly-scheduled annual inspections, preventative maintenance and repairs.

  • Corps awards second Jacksonville Harbor Deepening Project contract

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District announces awarding the second Jacksonville Harbor Deepening contract (Contract B) to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company, LLC, of Oak Brook, Illinois. The Corps awarded the base contract Sept. 24 in the amount of $113,167,400 with a total contract value of $209,813,750.

  • District works to overcome Harvey’s impacts to Texas’ shipping industry

    As pictures and video beamed out around the world of water rescues and massive flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey in southeastern Texas, another invisible effect was occurring to Texas’ energy coast.

  • Black Rock Lock Welcomes the First Barge of the Season

    The towboat “Calusa Coast” picked a glorious day to usher the “Delaware” on her maiden voyage through the Black Rock Lock May 20th.

  • Mile Point construction moves forward; marsh waterways to close

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers asks the public to use extra caution in the waterways and on land features within the Mile Point construction area on the St. Johns River. The construction zone contains a variety of vessels, including large barges and a dredge with pipelines, in the Chicopit Bay area and Intracoastal Waterway, and crews are also operating heavy equipment at Helen Cooper Floyd Park. These areas are restricted to construction personnel only due public safety concerns.