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  • February

    Mississippi native and Auburn University Alumni Laura "Beth" Williams is one of the faces working behind the scenes on the Corps' $973 million Savannah Harbor Expansion Project.

    Corps employee’s Mississippi roots inspires engineering career

    Growing up in Mississippi, Laura “Beth” Williams had heard of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and saw their work on the Mississippi River. “I loved looking at aerial photos and old maps that showed how the massive river had meandered all over the delta, leaving its tracks behind,” said Williams, (BS 1998 and MS 2000 Auburn University).
  • The New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam (NSBL&D) is owned and minamally maintained by the Savannah District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It is located outside Augusta, Georgia, on the Savannah River between Georgia and South Carolina. The NSBL&D was originally opened in the late 1930s to aid in river navigation between Augusta and the deep water ocean port in Savannah. Commercial operations on the Savannah River essentially ended in 1979. The NSBL&D later entered caretaker status. Today it impedes the migration of certain endangered fish to traditional spawning grounds upstream. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo by Billy Birdwell)

    Column: The fate of the lock and dam in Augusta, but first a little history

    The fate of the New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam has become a topic widely discussed in the past year. The issues surrounding the lock and dam are complex and deeply rooted in the past.
  • ACE-IT Chief Herman Kramer (left) and Savannah District Commander Col. Marvin Griffin (right) cut ribbon celebrating the completion of a new Information Technology Helpdesk Jan. 31.

    New Savannah District helpdesk unveiled

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, unveiled its new Information Technology (IT) Helpdesk during a ribbon cutting ceremony Jan. 31. The newly renovated space provides a more functional and efficient area devoted to assisting employees with their technology needs.

  • January

    Josh O’Neal, resident forester at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Forestry Resources Office, Fort Stewart, Georgia, inspects bales of pine straw before they are hauled off the installation.

    Bustling Corps Forestry Program supports habitat, enhances military training

    There’s a saying that money doesn’t grow on trees, but foresters at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Forestry Resources Office at Fort Stewart, Georgia, may beg to differ. They generate thousands of dollars every year from something that grows on trees - pine cones.
  • The microgrid temporary power system continues to supply critical power in Maunabo, Puerto Rico, until the town’s main grid is back online. “A microgrid can take many forms,” said USACE Task Force Power Restoration Operations Officer Capt. Aaron Anderson. “We are taking one or more 1,850 kilowatt generators, the huge ones you find powering hospitals and big box stores, and with the use of transformers, set up at a site. We then hook directly into the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority infrastructure through a substation or directly into the main grid, and push power to a variety of facilities that are on the line that haven’t been damaged and can accept it.”

    Microgrid technology brings vital electricity to Puerto Rico’s hardest hit towns

    In a continuing mission to restore critical electrical power to the people of Puerto Rico, Task Force Power Restoration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is using microgrid technology to temporarily power areas that have been hardest hit by Hurricane Maria.
  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Deputy Commanding General for Civil and Emergency Operations Maj. Gen. Donald E. "Ed" Jackson speaks to power restoration leaders Thomas Holden, Jr., USACE Grid Power Program director, Carlos Torres, Puerto Rico Power Restoration coordinator, Dr. Ahsha Tribble, FEMA Power Sector chief, Col. John Lloyd, Task Force Power Restoration Commander, and Justo Gonzalez, PREPA interim director, at the daily stakeholder coordination meeting in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Jan. 4.

    USACE deputy visits Task Force Power in Puerto Rico

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Deputy Commanding General for Civil and Emergency Operations Maj. Gen. Donald E. "Ed" Jackson visited Task Force Power Restoration at the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority Jan. 4 to get an update on the mission and to meet team members.

  • November

    The Corps’ Savannah Harbor Expansion Project Delivery Team, which led the CSS Georgia recovery efforts, won the Georgia Partnership for Transportation Quality’s Preconstruction Design Award in the NEPA, Environmental Protection, Preservation, Restoration and/or Enhancement Category. The awards recognize engineering teams and firms for innovative transportation and infrastructure projects across the state of Georgia.

    USACE garners design award for CSS Georgia Recovery

    Through coordinated efforts with the U.S. Navy, the U.S. Marine Corps, the U.S. Coast Guard and various state, federal and local agencies, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers accomplished one of the largest archaeological excavations of a maritime site that has ever taken place in the state of Georgia – recovery of the Civil War-era ironclad CSS Georgia. Decades in the making, the project, which was completed by the Corps in August 2017, is garnering recognition from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Georgia and the Georgia Department of Transportation.

  • October

    An array of rocks painted by volunteers as part of Thurmond Lake’s National Public Lands Day event, Sept. 30. The rocks are being placed around Thurmond’s public areas for visitors to find and share on social media.

    Thurmond Lake's pet (rock) project

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – If you haven’t been living under one, you may have noticed some brightly colored rocks around your town lately.
  • USACE recognizes Virginia "Jenna" Roberson as Interior Designer of the Year

    USACE recognizes Virginia 'Jenna' Roberson as Interior Designer of the Year

    As a child, Virginia “Jenna” Roberson, enjoyed decorating and rearranging furniture in her bedroom. Today Roberson’s childhood hobby has blossomed into a successful interior design career, which has earned her national recognition by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

  • September

    Department of Planning and Natural Resources Office Manager for Business and Administration Services talks to a home owner, helping Operation Blue Roof team members as they walk house-to-house. With five team members on the island, the Temporary Roofing Planning and Response Team is currently going house-to-house gathering Right of Entry forms. The forms allow Corps personnel on private property to assess homes and Corps contractors authority to repair the roofs. More Temporary Roofing team members are on their way. Operation Blue Roof’s purpose is to provide homeowners in disaster areas with fiber-reinforced plastic sheeting to cover their damaged roofs until arrangements can be made for permanent repairs.

    First Blue Roof Being Installed in the Virgin Islands

    The first residential temporary roof made of blue plastic sheeting was installed today on the island of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. The program, available to qualified homeowners and known as Operation Blue Roof, can make some damaged structures habitable again until more permanent repairs can be made.

  • August

    A Spider Barge (right) distributes outer-channel sediment into a barge held in place by a tug boat (left), as a Cutter Head Dredge Alaska (outside frame) pumps material through the pipe. The work is part of the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project. The outer channel will extend up to 20 miles into the Atlantic when complete, making the entire shipping channel 40 miles long from entry to Garden City Terminal.

    Savannah Harbor expansion boiled down: 40 miles long, 47 feet deep

    NR 17-30SAVANNAH, Ga. – It’s arguably one of the most important infrastructure projects in the
  • Leila Hollis

    One person, big impact on small businesses

    Her office may be small (she’s the only small business specialist) but Leila Hollis packs a big punch when it comes to giving small companies an edge in working for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. So much so, her management of a $600 million program earned her a 2017 Women of Color Technology All Star award.

  • July

    Wetland acquisition advances SHEP progress

    The Savannah Harbor Expansion Project (SHEP) continues to make progress, most recently demonstrated by the completion of another environmental mitigation requirement. After acquiring Abercorn Island in February, the Georgia Department of Transportation recently transferred the 2,080-acre property to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

  • April

    Vigilant Guard ’17: Corps fights flooding with Ga. Nat’l Guard, City of Augusta

    AUGUSTA, Ga. – As a CH-47 Chinook helicopter roared overhead and a company of soldiers worked to protect the city from a rising Savannah River, David Peterson smiled, comfortable in his element. “This is like Christmas,” said a visibly excited Peterson, chief of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Savannah District’s Emergency Management Division.

  • March

    The future of the New Savannah Bluff Lock and Dam

    In December, Congress passed a law which will impact the Savannah River Basin. The Water Infrastructure Improvements for the Nation Act, known as the WIIN Act, became public law Dec. 16, 2016. A specific section of this law directly affects the Savannah River just below Augusta.

  • February

    Contractors on pace to finish 5 SHEP-related features in 2017

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – To say Spencer Davis has a few irons in the fire is an understatement. As the senior project manager for the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project, or SHEP, Davis manages the multimillion-dollar project that has eight separate environmental mitigation features outside of the actual harbor and entrance channel deepening. Now more than two years in, contractors continue to push the project forward on several fronts and are expected to wrap up four contracts this year.

  • January

    Durham Recreation Area on Lake Hartwell to close for construction

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Hartwell Project Office will indefinitely close Durham Recreation Area, located in Anderson County, S.C., on Jan. 23, 2017, for construction of a water treatment plant.
  • Workers on the newly-constructed Unmanned Aerial Systems hangar constructed at Camp Mackall near Fort Bragg, North Carolina. The facility, built by Caddell Construction, won the state and national-level Associated Builders and Constractors, Inc. Excellence in Construction Competition in December 2016. It also received state-level honors from the Associated General Contractors of America.

    Camp Mackall hangar receives top industry awards

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials recently unveiled a new, award-winning facility to house tactical unmanned aerial systems (UAS) for the XVIII Airborne Corps, one of the Army’s elite units based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

  • Above the rim: SHEP storage impoundment progresses

    The aerial photo displays construction progress on the Raw Water Storage Impoundment, as part of the

  • December

    New arrivals push DO system closer to completion

    Workers delivered four Speece cones to the downriver Dissolved Oxygen Injection System site, Dec.