6 Aug 2020

District awards contract to safeguard railroad bridge on St. Francis River

Two bridges crossing a major Arkansas waterway were under attack by scouring currents that threatened to undermine the safety of the structures. In response to this potentially dangerous situation, the Memphis District on July 30 issued a repair contract to Polk & Associates. The project consists of repairing a scour site downstream of State Highway 51 Bridge which crosses over the St Francis River at Fisk, Missouri, as well as a Union Pacific Railroad Bridge. These bridges serve communities in Stoddard and Butler Counties, Missouri.

30 Sep 2019

District has powerful new survey tool

Have you ever watched one of those documentary television programs where researchers have a cool laser gizmo that spins on a tripod and maps the inside of a prehistoric cave or the outside of an ancient building like the Coliseum of Rome to the tiniest detail? Well, now the Memphis District has one of those gizmos too. But, our engineers and technicians are putting it to different uses. Called the SX-10 Scanning Total Station, the device uses LiDAR to create a “point cloud” of a scanned object. LiDAR stands for Light Detection and Ranging. That’s a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure distances and locations. The Memphis District is already using LiDAR for mapping and imaging on our unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV). The SX-10, however, uses terrestrial LiDAR.

30 Sep 2019

Biologists check for endangered mussels

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers employees perform a lot of interesting jobs related to the rivers we work on. But one of the most unusual jobs involves looking for an endangered species of fresh water mussels.

30 Sep 2019

Corps of Engineers completes Poinsett County Ditch 10 cleanout ahead of schedule, under budget

On U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contractors have completed maintenance work to cleanout Ditch 10 in Poinsett County, west of Trumann, Arkansas, 70 days ahead of schedule and $44,546 under budget.

24 Sep 2019

District Commander participates in launch of new shipboard water quality monitoring system

Memphis District Commander Col. Zachary Miller joined officials from the U.S. Geological Survey and a group of Mississippi River city mayors at a press conference Monday (Sept. 16) to announce the launch of a new shipboard water quality monitoring system. The steam ship American Queen, where the press conference took place, is the first commercial vessel to mount the system.

17 Sep 2019

District Commander on the road (Part 4)

This is the fourth installment of Col. Zachary Miller’s recent road trip around the district. Another culvert project was the impetus for this stop. Bobby Carlyle from our Caruthersville Area Office was also the USACE point man on this job. The Mound City to Cairo Levee is located along the Ohio River in the southern tip of Illinois and protects Mound City and Pulaski County, Ill. This project will replace an existing 30-inch diameter corrugated metal pipe with a 48-inch diameter reinforced concrete pipe. The culvert will also feature a flap gate to prevent backflow when water is high, and a sluice gate to prevent reverse flow.

16 Sep 2019

District Commander on the road (Part 3)

This is the third installment of Col. Zachary Miller’s recent road trip around the district. This time he viewed work to replace a number of culverts under a levee and perform other work near New Madrid, Mo. The 15-mile long Farrenburg levee reduces the risk of backwater flooding along St. John’s Bayou. The project now underway will renovate and replace 18 culverts that cross under the levee. The purpose of the culverts are to keep flood waters out of the protected area, then allow any interior captured water to drain when water levels drop.

13 Sep 2019

Keating, Taylor selected for MVD Emerging Leader Program

Memphis District employees Danny Keating and Matthew Taylor received word earlier this month that they were selected to participate in the Mississippi Valley Division (MVD) Emerging Leader Program. A letter from Division Commander Maj. Gen. R. Mark Toy stated, “Your selection was based upon your demonstrated ability and potential in the areas of leadership, development, and management.”

12 Sep 2019

District Commander on the road (Part I)

Memphis District Commander Col. Zachary Miller recently spent the better part of a week traveling through the district to view work in progress and meet with our many partners and stakeholders. We’ll follow along in this series of brief articles and photos.

11 Sep 2019

Boyd takes ‘Taking Care of People’ to heart

We hear a lot these days about the importance of taking care of people. Revolving Fund Accountant Christopher Boyd recently translated this from mere words into valuable actions.

10 Sep 2019

Bailey Hunt receives Commander’s Award

Real Estate Review Appraiser Bailey Hunt received the Commander’s Award for Civilian Service, Sept. 9, for work he performed for the Memphis District from May 2018 through September 2019. District Commander Col. Zachary Miller presented the award in his office, with Hunt’s Real Estate coworkers in attendance.

5 Sep 2019

Art Hamm retires after 63-year of combined federal service

Memphis District employee Art Hamm retired on Friday, Aug. 30, capping an amazing 63 years of federal service. Before coming to work for the Memphis District in 1979, Hamm served for 23 years in the U.S. Air Force. He worked as an electronic technician at locations around the world including service in the Vietnam War. Following his retirement from the Air Force he completed another 40 years of service as an electronic industrial controls mechanic for the Memphis District.

28 Aug 2019

Memphis District awards contract for new dragline machine

The Memphis District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on July 10, 2019, awarded a $15 million contract to construct a new dragline machine to Seatrax, Inc., of Houston, Texas. Procurement of this new machine represents Phase I of a project to replace the current dragline machine. Workers will eventually mount the machine on a barge, allowing it to work from the river. A separate contract for the barge is set to open bids on Sept. 11, 2019.