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Levees are a vital part of modern flood risk management. They are part of flood defense systems that may also include flood walls, pumping stations, gates closures, and other associated structures. These elements work together to reduce risk to human life and reduce economic damages from flood events. — USACE extends comment period on draft National Levee Safety Guidelines

'The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced today it is extending the comment period on the draft first edition of the National Levee Safety Guidelines to Aug. 31, 2024. The guidelines were developed with stakeholder input under the National Levee Safety Program and released for public review on...'

7/19/2024
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HQ USACE NEWS RELEASES

News Stories

August

12 Aug 2020
Critical drainage channels to be maintained
Throughout its history, the Lower Mississippi River Flood Plain has been besieged by floodwaters; that’s why flood risk management is one of the Memphis District's major mission areas. We serve as the first line of defense for the entire lower Valley. Working to execute this mission and serving as that first line of defense, a Memphis District Project Delivery Team awarded three major contracts to perform maintenance on drainage channels 1 and 251, which are located in the Little River Drainage District in Southeast Missouri. The contracts are for lower Ditch 251, upper Ditch 251, and upper Ditch 1 and authorize contractors to go in and return a total of 89 miles worth of drainage channels to their authorized level of flood protection.
12 Aug 2020
Boat Launch Ramp to Close, Dam Face Work Continues
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District’s East Branch Lake Dam announces its boat launch ramp will close Monday, Aug. 24 due to falling lake levels and urges continued caution to travelers as dam construction work continues.
12 Aug 2020
ENFIRE Refresher Course Produces Renewed Contingency Preparedness
The 11th Engineers have concluded a refresher course held during the week of Aug. 3 designed to leverage the use of ENFIRE, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) rapid data collecting tool kit. Instruction set, reconnaissance, and surveying (commonly known as ENFIRE) allows Far East District (FED) Soldiers and civilians to conduct reconnaissance with modernized collection and dissemination technology from a safe distance, making it possible to deliver data with a greater level of precision than ever before.
11 Aug 2020
Mississippi River Commission schedules low-water inspection trip
The Mississippi River Commission will conduct its annual low-water inspection trip on the Mississippi River, August 24 – 28, 2020.
11 Aug 2020
Waste Management Disposal Services of Maine seeks permit for landfill expansion in Norridgewock
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District received a permit application from Waste Management Disposal Services of Maine, Incorporated, for proposed work in freshwater wetlands adjacent to 357 Mercer Road, Norridgewock, Maine. The work involves a 48.6 acre expansion of an existing landfill on the 933 acre property the applicant owns.
11 Aug 2020
Lock steps: Dewatering is the first step before lock repairs can begin
Did you ever wonder why it takes so long to repair a lock? Check out the dewatering process for the Ortona Lock and Dam maintenance repairs through a series of photos of the event in 2018. It's a LOT more involved than just closing the lock and doing repairs!
11 Aug 2020
Army Corps updates water release schedule at Francis E. Walter Dam
The U.S. Army Corps Engineers’ Philadelphia District updated the 2020 Francis E. Walter Dam Flow Management Plan. The Army Corps updated the plan, which states whitewater and fisheries releases will be scheduled if enough water storage is accumulated in the reservoir.
11 Aug 2020
Braddock Bay project complete, Area of Concern moves towards delisting
The USACE and U.S. EPA will host a media event with guest speakers, Thursday, August 13 at 1 p.m., at the Westpoint Marina at Braddock Bay located at 105 E Manitou Rd., Rochester, NY 14612, to celebrate the completion of the Braddock Bay ecosystem restoration project and moving the Rochester Embayment Area of Concern (AOC) one step closer to delisting.
11 Aug 2020
PUBLICATION NOTICE: Post-Project Monitoring of a Navigation Solution in a Dynamic Coastal Environment, Smith Island, Maryland: Year One of Post-Project Monitoring
Abstract: In 2018, jetties and a sill were constructed by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) adjacent to the Sheep Pen Gut Federal Channel at Rhodes Point, Smith Island, Maryland. These navigation improvements were constructed under Section 107 of the Continuing Authorities Program. Material dredged for construction of the navigation structures and realignment of the channel were used to restore degraded marsh. Following construction and dredging, 1 year of post-project monitoring was performed to evaluate the performance of navigation improvements with respect to the prevention of shoaling within the Sheep Pen Gut channel, shoreline changes, and impacts to submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). Given the short period of record after the completion of the navigation improvements, it was difficult to draw conclusions regarding stability of the channel, structures, and shoreline. Therefore, this report documents methodology and baseline conditions for monitoring, except for SAV, which was found to be potentially impacted by construction. A second year of monitoring was funded by the USACE Regional Sediment Management Program for fiscal year 2020. Findings can be used to inform plan formulation and design for USACE navigation projects by illuminating considerations for placement of structures to prevent shoaling and by informing SAV management decisions.
11 Aug 2020
PUBLICATION NOTICE: The Urban Ground-to-Ground Radio-Frequency Channel: Measurement and Modeling in the Ultrahigh Frequency Band
ABSTRACT: Ground-to-ground radio communication and sensing within the urban environment is challenging because line of sight between transmitter and receiver is rarely available. Therefore, radio links are often critically reliant on reflection and scattering from built structures. Little is known about the scattering strength of different buildings or whether such differences are important to the urban ground-to-ground channel. We tested the hypotheses that (1) diffuse scattering from built structures significantly impacts the urban channel and (2) scattering strength of urban structures varies with surface roughness and materials. We tested these hypotheses by measuring urban channels in Concord, New Hampshire, and Boston, Massachusetts, and via channel-modeling efforts with three-dimensional representations of the urban environment. Direct comparison between measured and modeled channels suggest that both of these hypotheses are true. Further, it appears that ray-tracing approaches underestimate the complexity of urban channels because these approaches lack the physical processes to correctly assess the power incident on and scattered from built structures. We developed a radio-geospatial model that better accounts for incident power on both directly visible and occluded buildings and show that our model predictions com-pare more favorably with measured channels than those channels predicted via typical ray-tracing approaches.

News Releases

12 Aug 2020
Critical drainage channels to be maintained
Throughout its history, the Lower Mississippi River Flood Plain has been besieged by floodwaters; that’s why flood risk management is one of the Memphis District's major mission areas. We serve as the first line of defense for the entire lower Valley. Working to execute this mission and serving as that first line of defense, a Memphis District Project Delivery Team awarded three major contracts to perform maintenance on drainage channels 1 and 251, which are located in the Little River Drainage District in Southeast Missouri. The contracts are for lower Ditch 251, upper Ditch 251, and upper Ditch 1 and authorize contractors to go in and return a total of 89 miles worth of drainage channels to their authorized level of flood protection.
12 Aug 2020
Boat Launch Ramp to Close, Dam Face Work Continues
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District’s East Branch Lake Dam announces its boat launch ramp will close Monday, Aug. 24 due to falling lake levels and urges continued caution to travelers as dam construction work continues.
12 Aug 2020
ENFIRE Refresher Course Produces Renewed Contingency Preparedness
The 11th Engineers have concluded a refresher course held during the week of Aug. 3 designed to leverage the use of ENFIRE, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) rapid data collecting tool kit. Instruction set, reconnaissance, and surveying (commonly known as ENFIRE) allows Far East District (FED) Soldiers and civilians to conduct reconnaissance with modernized collection and dissemination technology from a safe distance, making it possible to deliver data with a greater level of precision than ever before.
11 Aug 2020
Mississippi River Commission schedules low-water inspection trip
The Mississippi River Commission will conduct its annual low-water inspection trip on the Mississippi River, August 24 – 28, 2020.
11 Aug 2020
Waste Management Disposal Services of Maine seeks permit for landfill expansion in Norridgewock
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District received a permit application from Waste Management Disposal Services of Maine, Incorporated, for proposed work in freshwater wetlands adjacent to 357 Mercer Road, Norridgewock, Maine. The work involves a 48.6 acre expansion of an existing landfill on the 933 acre property the applicant owns.
11 Aug 2020
Lock steps: Dewatering is the first step before lock repairs can begin
Did you ever wonder why it takes so long to repair a lock? Check out the dewatering process for the Ortona Lock and Dam maintenance repairs through a series of photos of the event in 2018. It's a LOT more involved than just closing the lock and doing repairs!
11 Aug 2020
Army Corps updates water release schedule at Francis E. Walter Dam
The U.S. Army Corps Engineers’ Philadelphia District updated the 2020 Francis E. Walter Dam Flow Management Plan. The Army Corps updated the plan, which states whitewater and fisheries releases will be scheduled if enough water storage is accumulated in the reservoir.
11 Aug 2020
Braddock Bay project complete, Area of Concern moves towards delisting
The USACE and U.S. EPA will host a media event with guest speakers, Thursday, August 13 at 1 p.m., at the Westpoint Marina at Braddock Bay located at 105 E Manitou Rd., Rochester, NY 14612, to celebrate the completion of the Braddock Bay ecosystem restoration project and moving the Rochester Embayment Area of Concern (AOC) one step closer to delisting.
11 Aug 2020
PUBLICATION NOTICE: Post-Project Monitoring of a Navigation Solution in a Dynamic Coastal Environment, Smith Island, Maryland: Year One of Post-Project Monitoring
Abstract: In 2018, jetties and a sill were constructed by the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) adjacent to the Sheep Pen Gut Federal Channel at Rhodes Point, Smith Island, Maryland. These navigation improvements were constructed under Section 107 of the Continuing Authorities Program. Material dredged for construction of the navigation structures and realignment of the channel were used to restore degraded marsh. Following construction and dredging, 1 year of post-project monitoring was performed to evaluate the performance of navigation improvements with respect to the prevention of shoaling within the Sheep Pen Gut channel, shoreline changes, and impacts to submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV). Given the short period of record after the completion of the navigation improvements, it was difficult to draw conclusions regarding stability of the channel, structures, and shoreline. Therefore, this report documents methodology and baseline conditions for monitoring, except for SAV, which was found to be potentially impacted by construction. A second year of monitoring was funded by the USACE Regional Sediment Management Program for fiscal year 2020. Findings can be used to inform plan formulation and design for USACE navigation projects by illuminating considerations for placement of structures to prevent shoaling and by informing SAV management decisions.
11 Aug 2020
PUBLICATION NOTICE: The Urban Ground-to-Ground Radio-Frequency Channel: Measurement and Modeling in the Ultrahigh Frequency Band
ABSTRACT: Ground-to-ground radio communication and sensing within the urban environment is challenging because line of sight between transmitter and receiver is rarely available. Therefore, radio links are often critically reliant on reflection and scattering from built structures. Little is known about the scattering strength of different buildings or whether such differences are important to the urban ground-to-ground channel. We tested the hypotheses that (1) diffuse scattering from built structures significantly impacts the urban channel and (2) scattering strength of urban structures varies with surface roughness and materials. We tested these hypotheses by measuring urban channels in Concord, New Hampshire, and Boston, Massachusetts, and via channel-modeling efforts with three-dimensional representations of the urban environment. Direct comparison between measured and modeled channels suggest that both of these hypotheses are true. Further, it appears that ray-tracing approaches underestimate the complexity of urban channels because these approaches lack the physical processes to correctly assess the power incident on and scattered from built structures. We developed a radio-geospatial model that better accounts for incident power on both directly visible and occluded buildings and show that our model predictions com-pare more favorably with measured channels than those channels predicted via typical ray-tracing approaches.