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  • Summer Student Employment Available at Mark Twain Lake

    Mark Twain Lake – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Mark Twain Lake is currently seeking applicants for summer positions for the upcoming 2025 recreation season. Successful candidates will need to begin immediately after the spring 2025 semester and continue until the start of the fall 2025 semester. This will involve working a 40-hour per week schedule, including day shifts, night shifts, weekends, and holidays. The application deadline for this announcement is February 21, 2025.

  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is supporting response and recovery operations following Potomac River Aviation Incident

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Baltimore District has activated its Emergency Operations

  • USACE issues small craft advisory for Arkansas River

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is issuing a small craft advisory for the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System in Arkansas. Heavy rainfall in western Arkansas over the last 24 hours will result in Arkansas River flows exceeding 70,000 cubic feet per second over the next few days.

  • Investigation of Bioplastic Degradation for Military In-Field Applications Implementation of Sustainable Practices into the US Military for Rapid Biodegrading Polylactic Acid (PLA) Plastic in Compostable Environments

    Abstract: The Army Climate Strategy has identified goals to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to reach net-zero Army GHG emissions by 2050. Producing fossil-fuel-based plastics releases GHG emissions and plastic bottles are difficult to dispose, especially in contingency locations. Soldiers prefer hydrating with plastic water bottles, which leads to GHG emissions. This project investigates using bioplastics for water bottles. These bioplastics are produced from natural materials and can break down faster with alternative disposal methods, such as composting. Challenges include finding a material with a stable shelf life and the capability to hold water, but also one that that degrades with ease in the right composting environment. As part of this project, partners at the University of Minnesota are developing a new polylactic acid (PLA) material to fit the material properties needed for this application. Their research is ongoing. Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) researchers tested commercial PLA in calorimeter and incubator studies and with a full-scale demonstration of the commercial composting Sustainable Generation Mobile System. The PLA did not completely degrade, and testing showed mixed results on finished compost quality. Recommendations included continued testing, experimenting with other bioplastics, and changing compost feedstock variables.

  • Rapid Assessment Tools for Estimating Trafficability of Low Volume Roads

    Abstract: Rapid assessment of low-volume road surfaces remains a challenge when attempting to forecast allowable vehicle crossings. Variations in soil type, compaction effort, and moisture content of the soil can greatly affect trafficability, and predictive equations for soil deformation under vehicle loads often have reduced reliability for low-strength materials. Portable tools to characterize soil stiffness and corresponding relationships to load-induced deformation are needed. In this effort, researchers performed comparative testing of multiple rapid assessment tools as potential devices for giving estimations of vehicle trafficability. The test devices included a Clegg hammer and light weight deflectometer as instruments that measure response from impulse loading. Silty sand with and without chemical stabilization (using cement) at varying moisture content were used for testing. These soil states represented very weak conditions capable of supporting fewer than 50 vehicle passes to moderate strength conditions capable of supporting several thousand vehicle passes. Data from full-scale tests were used to correlate allowable traffic with data obtained from the rapid assessment tools. Recommendations from the effort include ranges of response data to categorize low-volume road surfaces based on their ability to handle ranges of vehicle loadings.

  • Improved Trafficability Over Soft Soils Using Ground Matting

    Abstract: Soft soils pose mobility challenges, even for vehicles designed with superior off-road capabilities. When numerous vehicles travel the same path, permanent deformation of the soil can result in rut depths that exceed vehicle ground clearance. These challenges can be overcome by modifying ground conditions to improve bearing capacity or spreading wheel loads over a greater area. Researchers at the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center conducted field tests to quantify the performance benefits of a ground matting system made of connected fiberglass panels designed to improve vehicle mobility on soft soils. Soil conditions included silt, sand, and highly organic soil with varying strength. Test vehicles included wheeled trucks with gross weights of approximately 6350 kg per axle. Performance of the matting system was assessed by the number of allowable vehicle crossings with and without matting present. Results from testing showed that allowable number of vehicles increased by at least a factor of ten on the weakest soils. Data presented herein includes geotechnical site characterization, soil deformation as a function of traffic, and material characteristics for the fiberglass matting system.

  • Army Corps Hosts Public Meeting to Discuss Tafuna Flood Risk Management Study

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Honolulu District, in partnership with the American Samoa

  • Montgomery Locks and Dam, Ohio River: Navigation Approach Physical Model

    Abstract: A physical model study of the Montgomery Locks and Dam was conducted to optimize the navigation conditions for the new riverside lock and guard wall design developed by the Pittsburgh District. A 1:100 Froude scale physical model was built to evaluate the navigation conditions for tows entering and exiting the locks in the upstream and downstream approaches. Conditions tested were Existing Conditions, Deconstruction Sequences, Construction Sequences, and Proposed Design. Data were also collected for impact analysis on the upstream and downstream riverside guard walls. The final design consisted of an upstream ported guard wall that is 1,000 ft in length and a downstream solid guard wall that is 800 ft in length. The implementation of submerged dikes in the upstream and downstream approaches improve navigation conditions significantly and are an essential part of the final design. Details are shown in Section 3.5 of this report.

  • MKARNS Nav Notice No. SWL 25-08 Lock 4 Tow Haulage Return to Service

    The tow haulage equipment at Emmett Sanders (No. 4) NM 66.0 has been repaired and returned to service.

  • “One Grand, Glorious National Cause”: A Cultural Geography of the Veterans Affairs Built Environment

    Abstract: The United States government has a long history of providing medical, financial, and burial benefits to American Veterans. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and its predecessor agencies constructed much of the built environment that served as a conduit for these benefits. Today, the VA manages and maintains more than 15,000 buildings and structures to serve the Veteran community. To facilitate the transfer of property rights of its vacant and underutilized properties and ensure compliance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation issued a Program Comment at the request of the VA on 26 October 2018. The Program Comment mitigation requires the VA to produce a readily accessible public-benefit document of interest to a wide audience composed of Veterans and lay people. This book provides that public-benefit document through a cultural geography of the built environment of VA facilities. This book focuses on the sense of place developed by Veterans toward VA facilities and covers three generational periods as defined by the VA: post–Civil War through World War I, World War I through the end of World War II, and post–World War II through 1958.