• USACE reschedules temporary lane closure of Highway 25 across Greers Ferry Dam

    HEBER SPRINGS, Ark. – One lane of the Highway 25 bridge across Greers Ferry Dam will close from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. July 27 to conduct a routine bridge inspection.
  • USACE reschedules temporary lane closure of Highway 187 across Beaver Dam

    ROGERS, Ark. – One lane of the Highway 187 bridge across Beaver Dam will close from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. July 29 to conduct a routine bridge inspection.
  • MKARNS Nav Notice SWL 21-26 Lock 1 Tow Haulage Returned to Service

    MKARNS - Tow haulage equipment at Norrell Lock (No. 1) NM 10.3 has been returned to service.
  • David Montes Jr.: Soldier, Project Manager, and now, Chaplain candidate

    David Montes Jr. has answered a panoply of calls from Soldiers throughout his 22-year Army career. Two years ago, Montes decided to answer another, much higher call: to become a Chaplain. His decision to answer this particular call has placed him on a new path as a Chaplain candidate in the U.S. Army Reserves.
  • Sublimation of Terrestrial Permafrost and the Implications for Ice-loss Processes on Mars

    Abstract: Sublimation of ice is rate-controlled by vapor transport away from its outer surface and may have generated landforms on Mars. In ice-cemented ground (permafrost), the lag of soil particles remaining after ice loss decreases subsequent sublimation. Varying soil-ice ratios lead to differential lag development. Here we report 52 years of sublimation measurements from a permafrost tunnel near Fairbanks, Alaska, and constrain models of sublimation, diffusion through porous soil, and lag formation. We derive the first long-term in situ effective diffusion coefficient of ice-free loess, a Mars analog soil, of 9.05 × 10⁻⁶ m² s⁻¹, ~5× larger than past theoretical studies. Exposed ice-wedge sublimation proceeds ~4× faster than predicted from analogy to heat loss by buoyant convection, a theory frequently employed in Mars studies. Our results can be used to map near-surface ice-content differences, identify surface processes controlling landform formation and morphology, and identify target landing sites for human exploration of Mars.
  • Effects of Milling on the Metals Analysis of Soil Samples Containing Metallic Residues

    Abstract: Metallic residues are distributed heterogeneously onto small-arms range soils from projectile fragmentation upon impact with a target or berm backstop. Incremental Sampling Methodology (ISM) can address the spatially heterogeneous contamination of surface soils on small-arms ranges, but representative kilogram-sized ISM subsamples are affected by the range of metallic residue particle sizes in the sample. This study compares the precision and concentrations of metals in a small-arms range soil sample processed by a puck mill, ring and puck mill, ball mill, and mortar and pestle prior to analysis. The ball mill, puck mill, and puck and ring mill produced acceptable relative standard deviations of less than 15% for the anthropogenic metals of interest (Lead (Pb), Antimony (Sb), Copper (Cu), and Zinc (Zn)), with the ball mill exhibiting the greatest precision for Pb, Cu, and Zn. Precision by mortar and pestle, without milling, was considerably higher (40% to >100%) for anthropogenic metals. Media anthropogenic metal concentrations varied by more than 40% between milling methods, with the greatest concentrations produced by the puck mill, followed by the puck and ring mill and then the ball mill. Metal concentrations were also dependent on milling time, with concentrations stabilizing for the puck mill by 300 s but still increasing for the ball mill over 20 h. Differences in metal concentrations were not directly related to the surface area of the milled sample. Overall, the tested milling methods were successful in producing reproducible data for soils containing metallic residues. However, the effects of milling type and time on concentrations require consideration in environmental investigations.
  • Modernizing Environmental Signature Physics for Target Detection

    Abstract: The objective of this study was to determine the effect of environmental phenomonology on the ability to detect buried objects and to provide a predictive capability of when targets are best detectable with IR sensors. Jay Clausen presented this material at the ERDC RD20 Conference.
  • Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works updates Water Resources Development Act of 2020 implementation guidance

    The Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works (OASA(CW)) is providing an update today on the status of implementation guidance for the 170 sections in the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 2020.
  • U.S. Coastal Research Program’s During Nearshore Event Experiment begins fall 2021

    Leading coastal scientists and engineers from across the U.S. will descend upon the Outer Banks of North Carolina this fall as part of the U.S. Coastal Research Program’s During Nearshore Event Experiment, or DUNEX, to study the physical processes behind storm impacts to beaches, dunes and coastal communities.
  • USACE to reopen Cranfield Park on Norfork Lake

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mountain Home Project Office will reopen Cranfield Park on Norfork Lake at 10 a.m., July 26.