WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) will soon begin the next construction phase of the Brandon Road Interbasin Project (BRIP).
This comes as Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Adam Telle announced Thursday, April 9, that he has directed management and execution of BRIP be immediately transferred from the USACE Rock Island District to the USACE Detroit District. This transfer will ensure the project progresses in closer coordination with the state of Michigan, which has been a model non-federal sponsor for this project to date.
Brandon Road Lock and Dam, near Joliet, Illinois, was identified as the critical pinch point where layered technologies could be used to stop invasive carp populations and other nuisance species from moving into the Great Lakes while minimizing impacts to Illinois Waterways users. If established in the Great Lakes, invasive carp could outcompete native species and greatly harm the ecology and economy of the entire Great Lakes region and its $20 billion fishing and boating industries.
The BRIP will be largely implemented within the downstream approach channel to the Brandon Road Lock & Dam in Joliet, Illinois.
The BRIP deterrents, combined with the electric dispersal barrier at Romeoville, Illinois, will provide multilayered protection within the Chicago Area Waterways System, improving the protection of the Great Lakes from aquatic nuisance species from the Illinois Waterway while maintaining waterborne transportation between basins.
The fiscal year 2026 Civil Works work plans released April 3 includes $28 million to initiate the Flushing Lock and Right Descending Bank Construction contract.
Release no. 26-007