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Archive: 2022
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  • November

    There are approximately 4,000 different species, but only 50 types live solely in freshwater. The most common Bryozoans, which translates to “moss animal” in Latin, are the Pectinatella magnifica. It thrives in the Savannah River lakes and makes its own substrate, forming large gelatinous colonies that attach to anything stationary and grow just below the surface of the water.

    Freshwater Bryozoan are a sign of a healthy lake

    SAVANNAH, Ga. -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Savannah River basin lakes, J. Strom Thurmond, Richard B. Russell and Hartwell, have some strange inhabitants that are alien, globby-looking things, and sometimes mistaken for the eggs of some aquatic creature, but in-fact, they are filter-feeding, microscopic invertebrates known as Freshwater Bryozoan or zooids, and their presence indicates a healthy body of water.
  • SAVANNAH, Ga. – Bruce Bennett, dissolved oxygen facilities manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, and Kate Dixon, design branch chief, lead a technical information tour of the lower Savannah River dissolved oxygen plant to attendees from the 2022 Hydraulic Institute Conference on Oct. 24, 2022. The Hydraulic Institute develops standards and technical resources for pump systems. They are responsible for publishing national standards covering pump and system nomenclature, definitions, design, application, installation, operation, maintenance, and testing. They also offer guidebooks and training on proper application and design of pumps and pump systems to industry professionals. USACE photo by Mel Orr.

    Hydraulic Institute Conference attendees tour Corps’ dissolved oxygen plant

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – Attendees of the Hydraulic Institute Fall Conference visited the lower Savannah River dissolved oxygen plant operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, Oct. 24, 2022.

  • September

    Every year, Savannah District foresters allows a select contractor access to gather the berries. Prior to each season, the Directorate of Public Works Forestry Department at Fort Stewart identifies areas to be harvested and seeks the required environmental approval. Savannah District real estate foresters then oversees the operation by selling the available berries to the highest bidder. In a typical year, the Corps earns anywhere between $50,000 to $80,000 but this year was an especially good crop and earned more than $105,000, sold at the rate of $1.20 per pound.

    Palmetto berries provide Army Corps of Engineers significant revenue

    Every year, Savannah District foresters allows a select contractor access to gather the berries. Prior to each season, the Directorate of Public Works Forestry Department at Fort Stewart identifies areas to be harvested and seeks the required environmental approval. Savannah District real estate foresters then oversees the operation by selling the available berries to the highest bidder. In a typical year, the Corps earns anywhere between $50,000 to $80,000 but this year was an especially good crop and earned more than $105,000, sold at the rate of $1.20 per pound.
  • Graduates of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District Leadership Development Program Level 2 pose for a group photograph with Maj. Alex Duffy, deputy commander, during a graduation ceremony, Sept. 22 at the district headquarters. Shown from left to right: Craig Boles, Natasha Givens, Ian Wright, Rebecca Downey, Roger Ruppe, Shahidou Mariko, Anna Godfrey, Clayton Crider, Nicole Liette, Carl Dokter, Emily Cromie, Matthew Deacon and Curtis McKenzie. (USACE Photo by Rashida Banks)

    Savannah District graduates 2022 Leadership Development Class

    Twelve members from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, graduated from the USACE Leadership Development Program Level 2, during a ceremony Sept. 22 at the district headquarters. The program is designed to prepare and further develop employees with a high potential to serve in future leadership positions.

  • August

    Col. Joseph Geary, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District commander, was a keynote speaker during the 15th annual Georgia Environmental Conference plenary sessions Aug. 24. The environmental conference is noted as the largest, most comprehensive educational environmental opportunity in Georgia. Savannah District’s leaders and team members talked about what the District does to maintain, restore, protect, and improve the environment through its many projects and regulatory programs.

    Savannah District members talk about role in supporting the environment

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District’s leaders and team members talked about what the District does to maintain, restore, protect, and improve the environment through its many projects and regulatory programs at the 15th annual Georgia Environmental Conference Aug. 23-26.
  • Lucia Wimberly, the dam safety program manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, provides an overview of the Corps Dam Safety Program during a tabletop exercise for Clemson Diversion Dams July 27. The exercises help foster dialogue between the Corps and stakeholders and prepares them to respond more effectively and efficiently to a dam-related emergency.

    USACE staff conducts dam safety emergency exercises

    Members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, and Clemson University participated in dam safety tabletop exercises at Hartwell and Clemson Diversion Dams July 27-28. The exercises help foster dialogue between the Corps and stakeholders and prepares them to respond more effectively and efficiently to an emergency with the dam.

  • June

    A 3-D rendering of multi-beam sonar survey data depicts an anomaly, most likely a concrete structure, sitting on the bottom of the Savannah River.

    Savannah District paints a clear picture of the Savannah River bottom with sonar mapping technology

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – Every year, more than six-million visitors travel to walk the cobblestone steps of River Street in historic, downtown Savannah, Ga. An unobstructed view of the Savannah River offers visitors the unique opportunity of viewing some of the largest cargo ships in the world as they pass by under the Talmadge Memorial Bridge on their way to the Georgia Ports Authority’s Garden City Terminal. What they don’t see through the dark water under the passing ships, however, is the 47-feet deep river channel bottom, recently deepened and annually maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District.

  • May

    Burton “Burt” Moore, Chief of the Dredging Section of the Savannah District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, surveys the beach renourishment at Tybee Island, Georgia. Moore oversees the work to repair beach erosion caused by Hurricanes Matthew and Irma in 2016 and 2017. Renourishing the beach will help mitigate damage from future storms striking the small Georgia resort town. The Corps of Engineers awarded the work contract to Great Lakes Dredge and Dock Company. Tybee Island sits adjacent to the Savannah harbor shipping channel, a federal navigation project. The Corps of Engineers continues its Savannah Harbor Expansion Project to deepen the entire harbor from its current 42-foot depth to 47 feet. Dredging crews completed the outer harbor, also known as the outer channel, deepening in the spring of 2018. (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo by Billy Birdwell.) (Photos taken on April 11, 2018.)

    Dredging Chief Receives Maritime Person of the Year Award

    Burt Moore’s decades-long dedication to the Savannah River was recently recognized when the Savannah Propeller Club rewarded him with the Maritime Person of the Year in Savannah, Georgia on May 19 as part of the club’s celebration of National Maritime Day.
  • J. STROM THURMOND PROJECT - Maj. Alex Duffy, Savannah District deputy commander, leads a hurricane preparedness tabletop exercise at J. Strom Thurmond Dam, Georgia May 5. These types of exercises help staff sections within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plan around natural and man-made disasters. Corps staff reacted to a scenario based on Hurricane Michael, which struck the Florida panhandle, southeast Alabama, and southwest Georgia in 2018.

    Army staff prepare for speculative storm strike in southwest Georgia

    J. STROM THURMOND DAM, Ga. – As a notional category four hurricane bears down on southwest Georgia, residents, government agencies, and Army engineers prepare for the worst – damaging winds, flooding and electrical failures. The speculative storm strike brought U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District staff together at J. Strom Thurmond Dam, Georgia May 5, to war game the scenario, something the district does on a regular basis.
  • SAVANNAH, Ga. – Andrea Farmer, Savannah District archeologist, left, speaks to Commodore Philip Nash during a visit to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District in Savannah, Georgia on April 28. Nash, who is the Royal Naval attaché to the U.S. at the British Embassy in Washington D.C., visited the Corps to view the 19 cannon and various other artifacts that the Corps recently recovered in the Savannah River during its Savannah Harbor Expansion Project. USACE photo by Mel Orr.

    Commodore keen on cannon collection

    Commodore Philip Nash, Royal Naval attaché to the U.S. at the British Embassy in Washington D.C., visited Savannah District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers April 28 to view 19 cannon and various other artifacts that the Corps found during its Savannah Harbor Expansion Project.

  • April

    The South Atlantic Division performs a tabletop exercise in preparation of the 2022 hurricane season.

    Army engineers prepare for hurricane season, expect up to eight storms

    SAVANNAH, Ga. - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, has begun preparing for the hurricane season in the Southeast with an extensive schedule of training and safety exercises throughout Georgia.
  • Savannah District representatives Nathan Wilkes, Jared Lopes, Andrea Farmer, Daniel McGraw, and Craig Clarke join Julia Pearce, middle, from the Tybee MLK Human Rights Organization, at the Cockspur Island Community Day at Fort Pulaski National Monument April 18.

    Savannah District joins Cockspur Island Community Day at Fort Pulaski

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – Representatives from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District attended the Cockspur Island Community Day at Fort Pulaski National Monument April 18.

  • March

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – Members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah and Jacksonville Districts began collaborating in February on a restoration project at the Dredged Material Containment Area 1S, located on the Savannah River near Port Wentworth, Georgia, as part of the mitigation requirements associated with the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project.

    Women’s History Month Spotlight in Engineering

    SAVANNAH, Ga. - Kate Dixon is a Savannah native so it is natural after getting her degree in mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech, she signed on with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District, working her way up to her current position as the Chief of Design Branch.
  • SAVANNAH, GA. - Members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District visit the dredged material containment area 1S on the Savannah River, Georgia on Feb. 23. The Corps is in the early process of restoring 29 acres of saltmarsh at DMCA 1S as part of the mitigation requirements for the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project.

    Joint project begins process to restore Savannah saltmarsh habitat

    SAVANNAH, Ga. – Members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah and Jacksonville Districts began collaborating in February on a restoration project at the Dredged Material Containment Area 1S, located on the Savannah River near Port Wentworth, Georgia, as part of the mitigation requirements associated with the Savannah Harbor Expansion Project.

  • February

    Announced last November, Shahidou Mariko is a selectee for the Modern-Day Technology Leader award for the 2022 Black Engineer of the Year Awards STEM Conference. Mariko received the award during the Technology Recognition Event hosted virtually in Washington February 17-19. The award recognizes Mariko’s work on an alternative health care facility for COVID-positive patients in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.

    USACE Mechanical Engineer Wins High-Level Award

    Announced last November, Shahidou Mariko is a selectee for the Modern-Day Technology Leader Award for the 2022 Black Engineer of the Year Awards STEM Conference. Mariko received the award during the Technology Recognition Event hosted virtually in Washington February 17-19. The award recognizes Mariko’s work on an alternative health care facility for COVID-positive patients in St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.
  • Announced last November, Pamela Backus is a selectee for the Modern-Day Technology Leader Award for the 2022 Black Engineer of the Year Awards STEM Conference. Backus received the award during the Technology Recognition Event hosted virtually in Washington February 17-19.

    USACE Biologist Wins High-Level Award

    Announced last November, Pamela Backus is a selectee for the Modern-Day Technology Leader Award for the 2022 Black Engineer of the Year Awards STEM Conference. Backus received the award during the Technology Recognition Event hosted virtually in Washington February 17-19.
  • Lead Exercise Planner Mary Lawson conducted a tabletop exercise for a worst-case scenario of a 6,500-gallon oil spill resulting from a damaged transformer at the Thurmond Power Plant. USACE personnel from all three projects and the District were in attendance. Participants also included federal, state and local response agencies, local water and energy utilities, and oil spill response contractors, for a total of 37 attendees.

    Engineers Participate in Simulated Oil Spill Exercise

    J. STROM THURMOND DAM, Ga. – Members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District participated in a tabletop exercise simulating a power plant oil spill at J. Strom Thurmond Dam on Feb. 10. The exercise presented a worst-case scenario of an oil spill with the intention of helping personnel become properly prepared and know the detailed procedures needed to handle such a situation.

  • January

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, South Atlantic Division Command Sgt. Maj. Chad Blansett spoke to district leaders and employees during a tour of the Savannah District and emphasized the importance of communication and servant leadership at all workforce levels.

    Savannah District hosts USACE HQ, South Atlantic CSMs

    SAVANNAH, GA. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District hosted USACE Headquarters Command Sgt. Maj. Patrickson Toussaint and USACE South Atlantic Division Command Sgt. Maj. Chad Blansett during a week-long tour of the SAS area of responsibility Jan. 24-28. During their visit, the command sergeants major met with district leaders and employees to discuss USACE priorities for 2022 and toured several Savannah District projects.
  • Erica Janocha, Savannah District biologist, writes “Janocha Key” in the sand on the new Altamaha bird island.

    Savannah District, GA DNR create bird sanctuary on Altamaha River

    SAVANNAH, GA. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah District have partnered with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to use reclaimed dredge material from the Altamaha River to create a new bird island this month. The island will provide roosting and foraging grounds for sea and shore birds, spawning areas for horseshoe crabs, and protection of nearby salt marsh habitats.