USACE News

April

16 Apr 2020
Mississippi River: Lock and Dam 4 Winter Maintenance, Alma, Wisconsin
Purpose of this project is to assure proper periodic maintenance and subsequent operation of the Lock and Dam 4 system. Lock and Dam 4 is located in Alma, Wisconsin. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed the facility in 1935 as part of the overall 9-foot channel navigation project, and it began operation in the same year.
16 Apr 2020
Far East District employees find innovative solutions to support mission while teleworking
CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea –Due to the global pandemic, COVID 19, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Far East District (FED) has reduced its manpower to mission essential only reporting to the office daily. In an effort to stop the spread of the virus, many district employees have adopted a telework schedule.
15 Apr 2020
Team successfully tests new unmanned autonomous surface vessel
Anxious at first about the specter of possible software glitches that would derail the project, the U.S. Army Engineer and Development Center’s Justin Wilkens, a research biologist with the Environmental Laboratory, soon confirmed that everything was functioning well. He and a team of other EL research biologists, including Dr. Guilherme Lotufo and Dr. Mark Ballentine, visited Vieques, an island off the coast of Puerto Rico, for five days in February to demonstrate a new unmanned autonomous surface vessel, or USV.
15 Apr 2020
Social distancing, the MVM mission
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention has several recommendations in place to try and stop the spread of this monstrous virus, to include such measures as wearing a face mask when out in public and practicing what has become mandated in many states: social distancing. While social distancing and other precautions are in place for the right reasons, they can unfortunately have a challenging impact on business operations. Especially difficult is when your employees cannot do their job behind a computer. So what do they do?
15 Apr 2020
Fort Worth District’s employee USACE Dam Safety Professional of the Year award
Sarwenaj Ashraf, or Sarvi Ashraf as she is known in the Fort Worth District, has won the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Dam Safety Professional of the year award. Although her home station is in the Fort Worth District, Ashraf is the USACE Dam Safety Program Manager. The Dam Safety Program ensures that the dams deliver their intended benefits while reducing risks to people, property and the environment through continuous assessment, communication and management. USACE dams and levees are a part of America’s landscape and provide critical benefits to the communities around them.
14 Apr 2020
USACE civilian graduates DINFOS: A peek into his experience there
Q: Describe your public affairs experience? A: I started working for the US Army Corps of Engineers as a public affairs specialist in August 2018. Prior to working for the Corps, I was a photographer for the Army’s Multimedia Visual Information Directorate working at the Pentagon. Prior to federal service I spent five years as a mass communication specialist in the U.S. Navy. In addition, I have degrees in journalism and professional media. Q: What class did you attend? A: I attended the Department of Defense’s Public Affairs Qualification Course at the Defense Information School on Ft. Meade, Maryland.
14 Apr 2020
Focus on TAM’s Logistics: Large staff element with varied, vital missions
Logistics mission at the Transatlantic Middle East District (TAM), with offices throughout the Middle East including contingency locations, takes on a whole new level of complexity moving needed people, supplies, and facilities, into position to meet mission requirements both at the TAM headquarters in Winchester and throughout the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.
14 Apr 2020
Tribal Partnership Program: Upper Sioux Community, Minnesota River
The study will assess the problems and opportunities being faced by the Upper Sioux Community on their tribal lands and make recommendations related to erosion along the Minnesota River adjacent to and impacting those lands.
14 Apr 2020
Ready to Advertise despite COVID-19
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Memphis District recently met a ‘tasker’ milestone known as “Ready to Advertise” for the Clack and Norfolk Seepage Remediation Project, all while adapting to newly placed COVID-19 work procedures. About ten days before BCOE (Bidability, Constructability, Operability, and Environmental) certification, Project Delivery Team members Jeremy Ruffell, John Hudson, Kevin Keller, Conrad Stacks, Brian Johnson, Josh Koontz, and Andrew Smothers, along with many other USACE employees, were sent home for mass telework.
13 Apr 2020
Army Corps, Partners Construct Alternate Care Facility at State University of New York at Stony Brook, Long Island N.Y.
The Alternate Care Facility is taking shape on the State University of New York at Stony Brook on Long Island to facilitate the care for COVID-19 patients. The Corps awarded the $101 million contract to build a 1,000-bed temporary hospital and part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ efforts to support the Federal Emergency Management Agency response.