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  • August

    Guests swim in a cove at Pawnee State Recreation Area just outside of Lincoln, Neb., July 15.

    Parks and Recreation real-life mission for Omaha District

    OMAHA, Neb. - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, manages more 235 parks and recreation areas, over 400,000 acres of public lands, and more than one million acres of water surface areas.

  • June

    Standing Bear Lake photos courtesy of Zach Montreuill.

    Papio Lakes, Corps hosts virtual meeting for new master plan; public comments sought

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, Natural Resources Management Section hosted a Papio Lakes Master Plan kick-off meeting in May with agency partners and stakeholders to help consolidate several separate, older plans into one document for the Papio Lakes recreation area; the plan is available for public comment through July 31.

  • May

    Narturi Narciso, engineer in training, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, exits a conduit at Salt Creek Site 2, Olive Creek Dam, Neb., after conducting a structural inspection May 1. Kristle Beaudet, dam safety manager, assists with the equipment and documentation. This was the first inspection the dam safety program conducted since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

    Dam safety remains top priority amidst COVID-19 challenges

    Despite the challenges of social distancing due to COVID-19, dam safety remains a risk management practice for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Omaha District. Recently a dam safety inspection team conducted its periodic inspection of the Salt Creek Dam Site 2, Olive Creek Dam south of Lincoln, Nebraska.

  • August

    The River Basin Balancer Game offers insight into an inland waterway and a system of reservoirs, which are operated with a goal for serving each of the benefits, flood control, navigation, hydropower, irrigation, water supply, recreation, fish and wildlife, and water quality, for which many USACE reservoirs are authorized and constructed. Users can take charge of river operations and experience the unique challenges presented when managing reservoir operations in a variety of weather conditions across a geographically diverse basin.

    Managing a river is dam challenging

    In 2013, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Omaha District Leadership Development Class developed a video game that invites players to plan and make releases from two inland waterway dams. The Omaha District, with class members as project managers, awarded a contract to the U.S. Army Game Design studio to design the game. The game allows players to take charge of river operations and experience the unique challenges presented when managing reservoir operations in a variety of weather conditions across a geographically diverse basin. Like the real world, the weather forecast isn’t always accurate, presenting an additional challenge.

  • March

    The scaffolding platform reaches first across the draft tube from the door and then builds out geometrically from the center structure. The hexagonal structure connects to anchor brackets on the draft tube wall and then supports a deck surface, which will accommodate scaffolding to provide safe access to the areas where cavitation impacts the turbine blade and the draft tube liner. Project crew members Mike Schnetzer and Dale Stibral place the scaffolding platform in the draft tube beneath the Kaplan Turbine at Gavins Point Dam.

    Project maintenance, cavitation repairs and OJT

    Among the various projects taking place at Gavins Point Power Plant, generator unit number three was recently dewatered to allow project crews to inspect the draft tube for damage caused by cavitation and make the necessary repairs. Cavitation repairs in the draft tube for unit three will continue through mid-March. Additional maintenance and rehabilitation projects are also underway at the Gavins Point project including replacing three power transformers and rehabilitating the spillway’s tainter gates. Work will move to unit two for annual generator maintenance, to install new un-watering and drain valves, to install a new motor control center, and replace switchgear equipment.

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