27 Oct 2014

Futures in engineering begin in middle school

Take 35 enthusiastic middle school students, mix in a natural resource specialist, a biologist, an engineer and the backdrop of the Missouri River, with a barge and a dredger, and you get an education for our students, one STEM at a time.

22 Sep 2014

Telling the Cache la Poudre Story at the Civil Works Review Board

Getting to the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers' Civil Works Review Board is no quick, easy task-just ask Steve Rothe, USACE Project Manager for a proposed environmental restoration project along the Cache la Poudre River in Greeley, Colo.

2 Sep 2014

Corps Section 14 project facilitates Scribner’s promising future

In the spring of 2010, a major flood from the Elkhorn River caused the left river bank just upstream from County Road F and the Elkhorn River Bridge near Scribner, Neb. to erode back 200 feet and decimated an entire tree line several hundred feet long. The Corps' Section 14 Emergency Streambank and Shoreline Protection project will consist of a series of five spur dikes at various locations along the eroded bank. A construction contract was awarded in August 2014 to Iowa-based Niewohner Construction, Inc. for approximately $289,000. Once notice to proceed is given, the project is expected to take no more than six months to complete.

10 Apr 2014

Delicate dance with a dinosaur

There are dozens of elements within the collection including pieces that are at least 5 feet long and take up the length of an entire crate and pieces that are smaller than 5 centimeters, wrapped in foil and paper and stored in sealed plastic bags. Following a checklist that identifies the crate, the box, the body part, and the bone piece; the team photographs and inspects the condition of each fossilized bone.

13 Mar 2014

Greybull Levee performs as designed reducing risks from ice jam flooding

While snowmelt and ice jam flooding can occur at any time, they typically occur during early spring thaw. Any ice jam can cause flooding or rapid increases in water levels within a short time period. Residents living near these rivers are reminded to monitor reports closely for ice jam flooding and be prepared to relocate to higher ground if flooding occurs. The levee in Greybull, Wyo., reduced risks to the town during recent ice jam flooding.

26 Nov 2013

Exercising Safety: Bear Creek, Cherry Creek and Chatfield dams catch floodwaters while reducing flooding risks

A stalled front brings record rainfall to the Front Range of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. The runoff brings a surge of water through canyons and foothills and into major population centers of central Colorado. But, this surge of water happened only in a virtual environment. During the week of Aug. 19, several employees from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District participated in a safety exercise focused on Cherry Creek Dam and Reservoir near Denver, Colo. – or more to the point, in the middle of the Denver metropolitan area.

19 Sep 2013

Corps expert has challenging career

Julie Clements, is a health physicist in Huntsville Center’s Environmental and Munitions Center of Expertise, Environmental Sciences Division in Omaha, Neb. She works in a demanding environment and carries out multiple missions aimed at keeping workers and the public safe. She says that’s what makes her field of engineering so dynamic.

16 Sep 2013

Recognizing volunteer’s 10 years as Fort Peck fixture

Meet Duane Johnson. Of course, anyone camping at Fort Peck Lake in the last 10 years probably knows him. He has been the volunteer campground host at the Downstream and West End Campgrounds in Fort Peck, Mont., since 2003. Every year, for the last 10 years, April through October, he has been a mainstay.

19 Jul 2013

Stolen artifacts returned to Navajo Nation

On July 9, the Corps of Engineers repatriated a large cache of sacred artifacts to the Navajo Nation. The Omaha District, with some assistance from the Albuquerque District, returned the artifacts in accordance with the Archaeological Resources Protection Act. The artifacts were looted from Corps of Engineers-managed land and Navajo tribal lands. A total of 710 artifacts were recovered from lands managed both by the Corps of Engineers and the Navajo Nation. Out of these, 425 were determined to be the property of the Navajo Nation, and were returned.

30 Jun 2013

Fighting drownings like a firefighter

It is a common misperception that firefighters merely fight fires. Actual firefighting takes up only a small percentage of the time firefighters spend on duty. Another important part of their time is spent educating others about fire prevention and fire safety. This concept rings true for the park rangers and natural resource specialists at lakes areas across the Omaha District who include outreach and water safety education among their regular responsibilities.