• Col. Jason Kelly takes command of South Atlantic Division

    On June 22nd, Col. Jason Kelly assumed command of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, South Atlantic Division. Col. Kelly assumed command from Maj. Gen. Diana Holland at a ceremony in Atlanta, Ga., where he will serve as the commander for a region that includes North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Puerto Rico.
  • The competitiveness of small business contracts

    The Charleston District executes over 700 contract actions per year. These actions are what gets water lines laid, barracks built, harbors dredged, beaches renourished, and dams repaired.
  • Meet Our: Jeff Livasy

    Jeff Livasy is the chief of the Programs and Civil Works Project Management Branch.
  • Meet Our: Maj. Joseph Owens

    Meet our new deputy commander, Maj. Joseph Owens.
  • Mississippi River Commission cancels Morgan City public hearing

    The Mississippi River Commission has canceled the Morgan City, Louisiana, public hearing scheduled for Aug. 28, 2020, during the annual low water inspection trip due to Hurricane Laura. Safety is paramount during any severe weather event.  Because of the uncertainty of the hurricane, the commission has decided to cancel this stop.
  • Facilities Reduction Program continues to deliver the program through virtual contracting

    Even programs that generally require intensive on-site visits are finding innovative solutions to maintain the high level of quality expected of Huntsville Center. One example is the Facilities Reduction Program (FRP), which provides contracting services and oversight of projects to eliminate excess facilities and structures at installations across the country, ultimately leading to a reduction in fixed installation costs and an increase in energy savings.
  • PUBLICATION NOTICE: Insights: An Update of the USACE Data Strategy Initiative; November 2019 Edition

    Abstract: The Data25 strategy was advanced in FY19 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Chief Information Officer (USACE CIO) by funding pilots to show the power of data analytics on real USACE operations. This report details pilots that were conducted in three of USACEs Business Lines; Dredging, Hydropower, and Military Construction. The purposes for each of these pilots are listed below. 1. Enterprise value: Demonstrates the power of data analytics and its ability to generate business value by improving decision-making across the organization. 2. Technology value: Helps the CIO understand how cloud technology could support the overall data strategy. 3. Business value: Provides examples of data analytics in action. This view helps the Business Lines, Divisions, and Districts understand what it takes to supplement decision-making with insights generated from data. The main purpose of the pilots was to provide a glimpse of what could be gained from data analytics. From the initial business questions, the pilot Business Lines are seeking to use data to improve decisions through the automation of business processes, more rapid decision cycles, and the layering of previously siloed data on their own to reveal new insights.
  • PUBLICATION NOTICE: Insights: An Update on the USACE Data Strategy Initiative; April 2019 Edition

    Abstract: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineering (USACE) Commanding General, LTG Todd T. Semonite, announced 10 initiatives on May 2018 to improve execution through informed decision-making, enabling lower costs, and world-class engineering results today and tomorrow. Two of the initiatives were geared to transition USACE to data-informed decision-making through the use of data analytics. The first of these two initiatives sought to implement a data strategy that included a doctrine and governance, through creation of a data management plan. The plan implemented tools to aggregate data across the organization and improve reporting. Dr. Cary Butler, USACE Chief Data Scientist, led this effort. The second initiative sought to establish a dedicated USACE Innovations Team to build and recruit a skilled team to act as finders and enablers of innovative, enterprise solutions that enabled USACE to become a digital business. The USACE Chief Information Officer oversaw both initiatives. Because goals and objectives overlapped in many areas and gathered momentum for these initiatives, leaders from both teams came together and decided that showing the business value of data analytics to improve decision making across the Corps should be a top priority. This document was used to report on the progress of the initiatives and give a better understanding of the need for data-informed decisions throughout USACE.
  • PUBLICATION NOTICE: New York/New Jersey Harbor Sedimentation Study: Numerical Modeling of Hydrodynamics and Sediment Transport

    Abstract: The New York/New Jersey Harbor (NYNJH) is a vital economic resource for both the local economy and the entire US economy due to the vast quantity of imports and exports handled by the numerous ports in this waterway. As with most ports, there is a significant, recurring expense associated with dredging the navigation channels to the authorized depths. In an effort to determine the impact of channel enlargements (“the project”) on dredging volumes, a numerical model study was performed. The advantage of a numerical model study is the ability to isolate individual system modifications and associated impacts in terms of dredging volumes. Five years (1985, 1995, 1996, 2011, and 2012) were simulated for both the with- and without-project conditions to determine the impact of the channel deepening on the dredging requirements for a wide range of meteorological conditions including storm events. The numerical model results were analyzed to provide insight into which locations will experience increased/decreased deposition and quantify the amount of increase/decrease for a given channel reach. The model results indicate a relatively minor increase in the total dredge volumes for the NYNJH with the increase being insignificant in comparison to the natural variability in dredge volumes across years.
  • PUBLICATION NOTICE: Fine-Grained Sediment within Olcott Harbor, Eighteenmile Creek, NY

    Abstract: Olcott Harbor, located at the mouth of Eighteenmile Creek and Lake Ontario, and a Great Lake Area of Concern, provides a temporary sink for contaminated, fine-grained sediment transported downstream from the Superfund site near Lockport, NY. The volume of fine-grained sediment currently stored in Olcott Harbor and Eighteenmile Creek is unknown, complicating remediation efforts. The US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Buffalo District (LRB), has partnered with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation to address the mitigation of contaminated sediment accumulating within Eighteenmile Creek. As part of this effort, researchers from the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) collaborated with LRB to delineate fine-grained sediment regions from coarse-grained regions in Olcott Harbor and Eighteenmile Creek via a geophysical survey in July 2017. Where possible, ERDC also estimated the thickness of the fine-grained sediment areas to determine overall fine-sediment volume. Sidescan sonar was used to map the surface transition from the coarser-grained sediment in the outer harbor to the finer-grained sediment in the inner harbor. Chirp sub-bottom profiles successfully imaged the subsurface transition from coarse- to fine-grained sediment in some areas but provided only limited thickness data. This technical note summarizes the field effort, data processing, and final interpretations.