2 Mar 2023

USACE hosts charrette, public scoping meeting for St. Augustine Back Bay CSRM Feasibility Study

St. Augustine, Fla. – Feb. 24, 2023 -- Jacksonville District’s St. Augustine Back Bay Coastal Storm Risk Management Feasibility Study took two big steps forward when the district and its non-federal sponsor, the City of St. Augustine, began a three-day charrette and held a public meeting to introduce residents to the study’s issues and aims.

1 Feb 2023

USACE and SFWMD announce four virtual workshops in February for development of C&SF Flood Resiliency Study alternatives

The Jacksonville District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD) will host a will host a series of four virtual workshops in February as part of the C&SF Flood Resiliency Study. Each workshop is a standalone session that will focus on development of preliminary alternatives for one of the planning reaches discussed at the planning charrettes held on January 11 and 12. Each session will also include a recap of the problems, opportunities, objectives, and constraints collaboratively developed on the first day of the planning charrette. The management measures and conceptual ideas developed for each planning reach on day 2 of the charrettes held in January will provide the starting point for preliminary alternative development. Series of Four Virtual Workshops for Development of Alternatives for the C&SF Flood Resiliency Study in February Session 1 - Reach A: Broward and Hillsboro Basins: Wednesday, February 15, 2023, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Session 2 – Reach B: Little River and Nearby Basins: Wednesday, February 15, 2023, 1 p.m. – 4 p.m. Session 3 - Reach C: Miami River and Nearby Basins: Thursday, February 16, 2023, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Session 4 – Reach D: South Miami Basins: Friday, February 17, 2023, 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.

18 Nov 2022

USACE announces two Public NEPA Scoping Meetings on Nov. 28 and extends public comment on New C&SF Flood Resiliency Study to Dec. 7

USACE invites the participation of Federal and state agencies, Native American Tribes, local agencies, and interested stakeholders in providing comments and identifying any issues or concerns. Two virtual Public NEPA Scoping Meetings will be held on Monday, November 28. The first will be held from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., and the second will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. The meetings will include a short presentation about the study and the NEPA process, followed by a comment period to receive feedback on the flood risk problems, including what is important to stakeholders when we look at the problems and potential solutions. The NEPA Scoping comment period is being extended through Wednesday December 7, 2022, to allow additional time due to the effects of Hurricane Nichole and the upcoming Thanksgiving Holiday.

7 Nov 2022

Cold Regions Vehicle Start: Next-Generation Lithium-Ion Battery Technologies for Stryker Vehicles

Abstract: Operating vehicles in extremely cold environments is a significant problem for not only the public but also the military. The Department of Defense has encountered issues when trying to reliably cold start large, heavy-duty military vehicles, specifically the M1126 Stryker Combat Vehicle, in cold regions. As noted in previous work, the issue stems from the current battery technology’s limited temperature range. This current project utilized the protocol established in the previous phase to evaluate next-generation lithium-ion battery technologies for use in cold regions. Selected battery technologies met necessary military specifications for use in large military combat vehicles and were evaluated using a mechanical load system developed in previous work to simulate the starting of a Stryker engine. This work also evaluated the performance of the existing battery technology of a Stryker under Alaskan winter temperatures, which will verify the accuracy of the simulated cold room testing on the mechanical load system. The results of the tests showed that while the system was able to reliably operate down to −20°C, the battery management system encountered challenges at the lower end of the temperature range. This technology has a potential to reliably support cold regions operations but needs further evaluation.

28 Oct 2022

USACE Seeks Public Comments on New C&SF Flood Risk Management Study

The Jacksonville District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is preparing a National Environmental Policy Act document for a proposed flood risk management study initiated under the authority of Section 216 of the Flood Control Act of 1970 within the Central and Southern Florida (C&SF) Project. USACE invites the participation of Federal and state agencies, Native American Tribes, local agencies, and interested stakeholders in providing comments and identifying any issues or concerns. Comments are due by Nov. 28.

26 Aug 2021

Sustainable Infrastructure in Conflict Zones: Police Facilities’ Impact on Perception of Safety in Afghan Communities

Abstract: The notion of sustainable infrastructure for the delivery of social services is to fulfill basic human needs; in war-torn societies, human safety is a critical basic need. The relationship between sustainable infrastructure development and human safety remains under-researched in Afghan neighborhoods. Therefore, this study examined the effectiveness of the police facilities constructed for stability enhancement in Afghan communities. To do so, this study used Afghans’ polling datasets on the police presence and the public safety perceptions, including newly collected survey data related to the influence of the police facilities on human safety and other factors contributing to the neighborhoods’ well-being. The datasets are organized with a multilevel structure in which different individuals are sampled within neighborhoods and analyzed using a multilevel model approach to capture the randomness of the responses. The results showed that police facilities are more important to perceptions of safety in less safe areas and that Afghans in villages perceived themselves as safer than in urban areas, relative to their own immediate region. Those perceiving themselves as being safer were older, more highly educated, and widowed respondents. Overall, Afghans perceived the police facilities as institutional symbol for promoting improvements and opportunities for fulfilling basic human safety need.

10 Aug 2021

Assessing Resilience: Case Studies and a Path Forward for the Marine and Inland Waterborne Transportation System

Assessing Resilience: Case Studies and a Path Forward for the Marine and Inland Waterborne

3 Sep 2020

Practicing COVID Resilience: How the FED Stays Ahead

From improving warfighter capabilities and laying the foundation for a 216-bedroom housing unit on Camp Humphreys to ensuring the support staff has the capability to work remotely, the Far East District (FED) has not allowed the COVID-19 pandemic to slow them down.

16 Jul 2020

Corps awards beach restoration contract for St. Johns County Coastal Storm Risk Management Project

The Jacksonville District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded a $15,179,050 contract July 7, 2020, to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company, LLC, of Oak Brook, Ill., to restore critically eroded shoreline along the coast of St. Johns County, Florida. The Coastal Storm Risk Management Project will include both dune and beach berm construction along approximately 2.6 miles of the St. Johns County coastline from Vilano Beach to South Ponte Vedra Beach. The initial construction will include placement of approximately 1.3 million cubic yards of sand that will be dredged from shoals located within St. Augustine Inlet. Future periodic nourishment events are planned at multi-year intervals.

26 Jun 2020

Virtual public meetings set for Florida Keys study

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Monroe County, its nonfederal sponsor, have released the Florida Keys Coastal Storm Risk Management Draft Integrated Feasibility Report and Environmental Impact Statement. The public is invited to learn more about the study and its findings during a series of online virtual sessions. USACE staff will be available to answer questions: • July 8, public meeting, 1-3 p.m. • July 9, office hours, 1-2 p.m. • July 13, public meeting, 5-7 p.m. • July 14, office hours, 5-6 p.m. The public meetings will feature a formal presentation, followed by an opportunity to ask questions. Community members have until Aug. 10 to provide feedback on the draft plan.