Rock Island District / Media / News Stories

  • February

    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.

  • October

    Corps lakes providing water supply and water quality releases due to drought

    (Oct. 9, 2012) The Rock Island District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, is currently operating its three Iowa reservoirs for drought conditions. With significantly decreased inflows, Saylorville Lake at Des Moines, Iowa; Lake Red Rock at Knoxville, Iowa; and Coralville Lake at Iowa City, Iowa; continue to release water to provide water supply and water quality for communities and utility needs downstream of the reservoirs.

  • September

    District contributes to "Feds Feed Families"

    The Rock Island District participated in the 2012 "Feds Feed Families" food drive in August. The Rock Island Arsenal and Soldiers from the U.S. Army Sustainment Command distributed collection cans, picked-up the donations and in total delivered more than 3,000 pounds of food to the River Bend Foodbank in Moline, Ill.

  • Floodwall Under Construction

    A source of water for nearly 131,000 people will soon be protected from flood waters. Construction of the Davenport Flood Risk Management Project, Reach 1 was awarded to Valley Construction with work starting in November 2011. The project is anticipated to be complete by November 2013.
  • Camping at Cherry Glen Recreation area at Saylorville Lake.

    Master Plan updates underway

    (September 2012) An effort is underway to update the Corps Master Plans for Saylorville Lake and Lake Red Rock, two of the Districts flood risk management reservoirs. The current plans were completed in 1984 and 1976 respectively, serving as guides for recreational and environmental stewardship decisions. Many things have since changed including land use changes within the watershed and on project lands, adjacent community growth and development, as well as an increasing demand for recreational opportunities.

  • District contributes to "Feds Feed Families"

    The Rock Island District participated in the 2012 "Feds Feed Families" food drive in August. The Rock Island Arsenal and Soldiers from the U.S. Army Sustainment Command distributed collection cans, picked-up the donations and in total delivered more than 3,000 pounds of food to the River Bend Foodbank in Moline, Ill.
  • Locks and Dam 15 on the Mississippi River at Rock Island, IL were built to allow for navigation on the Upper Mississippi River.

    Why do we have locks and dams?

    The Mississippi has long been used for transportation; however, navigation has been forced to accommodate its whims; deep-flowing but turbulent in times of flooding; placid but shallow to the point of non-navigability in times of drought. Other obstacles included swift and treacherous rapids, submerged rocks and boulders and uncharted sand bars and tree snags, which ended the life of many steamers in the nineteenth century.

  • August

    New display added to Mississippi River Visitor Center

    Fish now adorn the walls of the Mississippi River Visitor Center located on Rock Island Arsenal in Rock Island, Ill., near Locks and Dam 15.