Baltimore District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

The flags flying over Baltimore's waterways are certainly famous throughout history (we're looking at you, Star Spangled Banner), and these stars and stripes seen during the recent #FSKBridge response were a fitting addition to the roster. 🇺🇸 Happy 4th of July from the Baltimore District!

50 years of our Raystown Dam! 🏰 Hear from Allen, a USACE park ranger at Raystown, about this milestone event. 🔍 In 1974, then-Vice President Gerald Ford — the only president to ever work as a park ranger — dedicated the new dam. Raystown Lake is also the largest lake located entirely in Pennsylvania and draws over one million annual visitors. Since its construction, the dam has prevented over $314 million in estimated flood damages.

"It is through such examples that the Army can demonstrate its commitment to shared environmental goals and results." 🏰 In the latest issue of The Corps Environment, our Planning Chief Amy Guise describes the assessments, surveys, and sampling that will support decision-making for the preferred solution to benefit the site and the surrounding ecosystem through the full or partial removal of Atkisson Dam, near Aberdeen Proving Ground. https://lnkd.in/gsPN_5rD

Robin Ernstrom, a Program Manager with our Military Programs team, is also the Commander of the 90th Sustainment Brigade in the United States Army Reserve, which carries on the heraldry and legacy of the 90th Infantry Division, the “Tough ‘Ombres." 🇺🇸🪖 The 90th Infantry Division stormed Utah Beach with the 4th Infantry Division on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Robin spent the last two weeks in Normandy, France, representing the 90th Infantry Division, participating in seven formal ceremonies as part of the D-Day 80th Anniversary celebrations. #DDay80 🔍 In the first image, COL Ernstrom participates in a wreath laying at the 90th Infantry Division monument at Utah Beach. In the second, Ernstrom joins MG Klein (from the German Army) to chat with 90th Infantry Division WWII veteran Gene Kleindl at the conclusion of a ceremony honoring The Battle of Hospital Road in Gonfreville, France. This year marked the first time the 90th Infantry Division Association invited our German Allies to partake in multiple ceremonies as a show of friendship between France and Germany. (Photos courtesy SFC Jay Townsend — Mr. Townsend is also a USACE civilian employee at the Little Rock District, where he is PAO Chief)

Did you know the US Army Corps of Engineers operated the world's first floating nuclear power plant? 🏰 The decommissioning and dismantling of the historic STURGIS barge (completed in 2019) is just one of the reasons our Deactivated Nuclear Power Plant Program team recently captured a Secretary of the Army Environmental Award for the Environmental Restoration category. ⚛ “The effort to decommission and dismantle a floating nuclear power plant was truly unprecedented and served as a prime example of successful execution of USACE’s mission to provide engineering solutions for the nation’s toughest challenges,” said Brenda Barber, DNPPP program manager. 🔍 Read more about the STURGIS and the team's two other decommissioning projects (SM-1 and SM-1A) in this recent article from the U.S. Army Environmental Command: https://lnkd.in/gj8p3C7J.

On June 10, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Navy Supervisor of Salvage and Diving restored the Fort McHenry Federal Channel to its original operational dimensions of 700 feet wide and 50 feet deep for commercial maritime transit through the Port of Baltimore. 🏗 Fully restoring the Federal Channel to its original width and depth involved the removal of about 50,000 tons of #FSKBridge wreckage from the Patapsco River. At its highest point, the Unified Command, consisting of six agencies, led the response efforts among about 56 federal, state, and local agencies, represented by 1,587 individual responders. Additionally, about 500 specialists from around the world operated a fleet of 18 barges, 22 tugboats, 13 floating cranes, 10 excavators, and four survey boats. Subject matter experts from all over the U.S. also provided essential technical knowledge to the Unified Command. ✅ Following the removal of wreckage at the 50-foot mud-line, the Unified Command performed a survey of the Federal Channel June 10, certifying the riverbed as safe for transit. Surveying and removal of steel at and below the 50-foot mud-line will continue to ensure future dredging operations are not impacted.

Maj. Gen. William (Butch) Graham, US Army Corps of Engineers Deputy Chief of Engineers and Deputy Commanding General, today joined Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, and Unified Command leadership for a press conference at the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore to mark the full reopening of the Fort McHenry Federal Channel on June 10. As part of the Unified Command response to the collapse of the #FSKBridge, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and US Navy Supervisor of Salvage and Diving restored the federal channel to its original operational dimensions of 700 feet wide and 50 feet deep for commercial maritime transit through the Port of Baltimore. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gPu98C8x

An update from the Key Bridge Response: As part of the #FSKBridge Unified Command, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the US Navy Supervisor of Salvage & Diving today restored the Fort McHenry Federal Channel to its original operational dimensions of 700 feet wide and 50 feet deep for commercial maritime transit through the Helen Delich Bentley Port of Baltimore. Surveying and removal of steel at and below the 50-foot mud-line will continue to ensure future dredging operations are not impacted. https://lnkd.in/gPu98C8x

Certificates! Medals! Applause! 🥇 Baltimore District on June 4 hosted our 2024 Awards Ceremony, taking time to celebrate the hard work and accomplishments that represent our very best. 🏰 Baltimore District's diverse mission set means events like the awards ceremony allow our colleagues to demonstrate to their peers the wide variety of programs and projects they undertake — and the award-winning ways they meet milestones with dedication and expertise. 👏 Congratulations to this year's award recipients and winning teams, including the recognition of the 2024 "Gallery of Distinguished Civilians" inductee, Jerome T. Rifkin, presented by Jeff May. ...and a special "thank you" to the Unites States Army Continental Color Guard and United States Army Brass Quintet for opening our event in proper form. 🇺🇸 #usace #corpsofengineers #awardsceremony

It's #ChesapeakeBayAwarenessWeek, so we're highlighting the recent tidal marsh planting efforts underway following #dredgematerial placement at Maryland's Deal Island Wildlife Management Area as part of our maintenance of the federal navigation channel on the Wicomico River. 🌾 The dredge material, comprised mostly of silt and sand, is beneficially placed for #wetlands restoration meant to increase migratory bird nesting #habitat in the #ChesapeakeBay watershed. #usace #corpsofengineers #dredging #beneficialuse #migration #marsh #birds #conservation #DealIsland Maryland Department of Natural Resources