16 Jul 2020

Bank Grading Unit paves way for commerce, safety

Memphis District Commander Col. Zachary Miller recently visited Island 68, a project site in Arkansas, where he met with the district’s hardworking Bank Grading Unit and reviewed progress made at the site thus far. According to Project Manager and River/Civil Engineer Cole Stonebrook, we have done work here before as this area is particularly erosive and scours easily in moving water. “The soils in the area are very unstable and highly erosive,” he said. “We are addressing a large bank failure by grading irregularities in the bank alignment to a smooth straight alignment. The Grading Unit is grading the banks to a one on four slope,  which requires moving 220,000 cubic yards of material.”

15 Jun 2020

Memphis Revetment Season in full swing

The Memphis District Revetment season officially began this year on June 11, with District Commander Col. Zachary Miller hosting a kickoff meeting at the Ensley Engineer Yard to get things started. “Protecting the Mississippi River banks keeps the channel in place, which maintains the necessary depth and alignment that allows the thousands of tows to travel up and down the river year round,” the commander said. “Without this work, the river would shift resulting in new, shallow cutoffs that could not be safely traveled.”

15 May 2020

Metal Shop makings...

Navigation is one of our oldest missions. We’re mandated by Congress to keep the Mississippi River open for commercial navigation by maintaining a 9-foot-deep and 300-foot-wide channel, and we do that by dredging on an annual basis. So, as one might imagine, our dustpan dredge, the Hurley, gets used quite a bit keeping the Mississippi open, so our talented team at Ensley Engineer Yard have their work cut out for them keeping her running year after year. This brings us to the project Machinist Brandon Almeida is working on – it’s something the Dredge Hurley uses called “propeller rope guards.” He’s also making the mount needed to make the rope guards on – talk about complex work.

13 Apr 2020

$10M contract awarded for ACM casting

The Memphis District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently awarded a $10 million contract for articulated concrete mattress (ACM) casting at Richardson Landing Casting Field to Mississippi Limestone Corporation from Friars Point, Mississippi.