Rock Island District / Media / News Releases

  • Temporary Art Exhibit on Display at Illinois Waterway Visitor Center

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District, is hosting a temporary art exhibit at the Illinois Waterway Visitor Center located at 950 N. 27th Road in Ottawa, Illinois, now through June 1. The exhibit is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and is free to the public. Reversing Course: The Illinois River in 1900 and Today compares black-and-white photos from 1894 to 1928 with color photographs created by Watershed Cairns® artists Libby Reuter and Joshua Rowan from 2018 to 2022. Historic and contemporary maps pinpoint the locations of the photos at eleven sites along the Illinois River. Labels placed between the paired images help to highlight the economic and ecological changes along the river over the past 120 years.

  • 41st Annual Clinton Bald Eagle Watch scheduled for Feb. 8

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District, in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Clinton Community College, Clinton Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Stewards of the Upper Mississippi River Refuge are hosting the 41st Annual Clinton Bald Eagle Watch Saturday, February 8.

  • Starved Rock Eagle Watch Weekend Scheduled for Jan. 25-26

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District, in partnership with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Starved Rock State Park, LaSalle County Tourism, Heritage Corridor Destinations, Starved Rock Lodge and Village of North Utica are hosting Eagle Watch Weekend, Saturday, January 25 and Sunday, January 26.

  • USACE Introduces Public Notice Module to Regulatory Request System

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers today announced the launch of the new public notice module on its Regulatory Request System (RRS), an innovative online application portal designed to enhance transparency and improve public engagement.

  • USACE Rock Island District awards first construction contract for Brandon Road Interbasin Project

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District, awarded the first construction contract for the Brandon Road Interbasin Project on November 27. The $15.5 million contract was awarded to Miami Marine Services for site preparation and riverbed rock removal for the engineered channel. Miami Marine will partner with Michels Construction, Inc. of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for completion of this contract.

  • Public Input Sought on a DRAFT Supplemental Environmental Assessment for the LaGrange Lock and Dam 1200’ Lock Project

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District, completed a DRAFT Supplemental Environmental Assessment for the LaGrange Lock and Dam 1,200-foot Lock project and is now seeking public review. The District is interested in public review and comments regarding the project analysis and outcomes.

  • Army Corps of Engineers waives day use fees at recreation areas in observance of Veterans Day

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) announced today that it will waive day use fees at its more than 2,850 USACE-operated recreation areas nationwide in observance of Veterans Day, November 11.

  • Temporary Closure of Neal Smith Trail at Saylorville Lake

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District, announces that a portion of the Neal Smith Trail at Saylorville Lake will temporarily close beginning November 4th to facilitate a waterline replacement. The closure of the trail is scheduled to last through November 18th.

  • Corps of Engineers seeks comments on systemic forest stewardship program

    ST. PAUL, Minn. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul, Rock Island and St. Louis districts, are seeking public comments on a draft systemic forest stewardship Programmatic Environmental Assessment, or PEA, as part of the Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program. Comments are due by Nov. 23.

  • Federal, state, and local officials break ground on Southwest Louisiana Coastal Project

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Louisiana Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority held a Groundbreaking Ceremony to celebrate the start of the Southwest Coastal Louisiana Project. This project will deliver a non-structural approach to providing a 1-percent level of hurricane and storm damage risk reduction, primarily through a combination of elevating or floodproofing approximately 4,000 homes and businesses and undertaking much-needed coastal ecosystem restoration in the southwest portion of the state.