Rock Island District / Media / News Stories
Results:
Archive: 2013
Clear

  • November

    October-November Tower Times

    The October-November Tower Times is now available.

  • October

    August-September Tower Times

    August-September Tower Times

  • July

    Special Flood Edition Tower Times

    Top headlines in this Special Edition issue:    A tale of two extremes - Col. Mark Deschenes,

  • Record-setting flood on Illinois Waterway

    Record-setting levels on the Illinois River and tributaries damaged not only private property but a lot of government property too.

  • Impacts to locks on the Illinois River

    The locks and dams on the Illinois River are a bit different than those on the Mississippi – with one big difference being the two that have Wicket dams - Peoria and LaGrange. But there are others too.

  • Recognizing a volunteer and partnership

    In 1993, Saylorville Lake entered a Cooperative Agreement Partnership with the Iowa Academy of Science to have a gift shop located in the Saylorville Lake Visitor Center.

  • April

    Flood 2013 Graphic

    Why doesn’t the Corps of Engineers raise the gates on the Mississippi River dams to reduce the pool levels (lower the river) now before the snow melt and spring rains to reduce the amount of flooding?

    ANSWER: There are many reasons why this idea is not practical. The first, and foremost reason is that although they appear to be large flood control structures like a reservoir, locks and dams do not store water; they cannot prevent or cause flooding and they have no flood control capabilities. If the Mississippi River dams could control flooding, that is, hold back or store water, the pool created behind the dam would be so enormous that it would flood many communities.

  • February

    Kevin Ewbank, Rock Island District park ranger, looks at an ornament made by students from a local school in Staten Island near Midland Beach before placing it back on the “Tree of Hope,” Dec. 23. Ewbank is part of the Corps’ Critical Incident Stress Management team trained to respond to a crisis and provide support to volunteers, family and friends.

    Corps of Engineers team takes care of its own during Hurricane Sandy recovery

    Months after Hurricane Sandy slammed the greater New York area and caused billions of dollars in damage, Corps of Engineers employees continue supporting the city and state as they recover from the Oct. 29 disaster.
  • Hoses and other necessary equipment were lugged up and down escalators to aide in the unwatering mission.

    District’s reputation for unwatering grows

    As the forecast for Hurricane Sandy started to show potential for a 13-foot storm surge into the New York harbor a call was placed to the Rock Island District to tap into unwatering expertise. "Rock Island has an unwatering reputation," said Roger Less, chief, Design Branch. "Any time there is flooding or a need for pumping, our name seems to come up." Hurricane Sandy made landfall during the evening hours of Monday, Oct. 29 – that morning Rock Island District was already assembling a team of experts at the request of the New York District.

  • Never too early to start planning

    The Corps’ Dam Safety Program takes a risk-informed approach to managing its dams – with public safety being the number one priority. The Rock Island District is taking a proactive approach completing six tabletop exercises in the last four years at Lockport Pool, the Farm Creek Reservoirs, Saylorville Lake, Lake Red Rock, Lock and Dam 19 and Coralville Lake.
  • Stacy Langsdale, public involvement specialist, Institute of Water Resources, facilitates a discussion at the final Indian Creek Pilot Study workshop on how the stakeholder group plans to continue developing and implementing a watershed plan for Indian Creek.

    Iowa-Cedar Integrated Watershed Study

    A historic flood is a great motivator to get people thinking about water. In 2008, areas along the Iowa and Cedar rivers and their tributaries saw unprecedented flooding. This called together many forums of discussion for watershed improvements and changes to mitigate the risk of flooding.
  • The remnants of black walnut trees and other species litter the forest floor following the theft of the walnut sawlogs (a log of suitable size for sawing into lumber).

    Timber theft from Corps property

    A total of 35 mature black walnut trees were stolen from government lands between January and March 2012. Twenty-five of these trees were removed from property managed by Saylorville Lake, totaling $35,000 in timber value. The additional trees were taken from the Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge and Lake Red Rock.

  • January

    New miter gates were installed at Lock and Dam 20 in October by the Mississippi River Project Structures Maintenance Unit. The new gates replaced the original gates that had been in place since the lock opened in 1935.

    Lock receives facelift

    Lock and Dam 20 is the second location within the Mississippi River Project to receive newly designed miter gates. The new gates replaced the original gates that had been in place since the lock opened in 1935.
  • John Snell, diver and lock and dam operator at Starved Rock, begins his submersion to pull bearings on the wicket dam in preparation for dewatering operations.

    District Divers work to repair aging wicket dams

    Eighty years of wear and tear can cause significant stress to any man-made structure. The wicket dams on the Illinois River at Peoria Lock and Dam and Lagrange Lock and Dam have weathered 80 years of relentless currents, barge traffic and the daily rigors of operation. The wicket dams have maintained their functionality through the decades thanks in large part to the efforts of the crews tasked with their upkeep. Crews like the District’s dive team.
  • Karl Schmitz, dredging coordinator, Operations Division, checks the discharge pipe at the Dredged Material Management Placement site below Locks and Dam 15 in Rock Island, Ill. After dredging, the material is made available for beneficial use to the City of Rock Island.

    Routine maintenance maintains channel

    The drought conditions have many people questioning the depth of the river and its reliability for moving cargo up and down the river. For the Upper Mississippi River, the locks and dams as well as other river improvement structures are doing their job of maintaining the 9-foot navigation channel authorized by Congress. On the lower river, however, the unusually dry conditions continue to be a burden threatening closures, reduced loads and major delays for the barge industry and partners.