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  • June

    Col. Jose Aguilar, Portland District commander, provided an overview of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers history and mission in the Pacific Northwest. Aguilar said it’s important for Corps project teams to meet with business representatives and exchange information in an environment that balances both parties’ needs while respecting the fair contracting opportunities.

    USACE experts share how to navigate federal contracting regulations

    Businesses interested in working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had two opportunities recently to learn about future projects and how to compete for them. The industry day events were designed to introduce businesses to the government acquisition process, provide information about the tools needed to do business with the Corps, and how to improve project proposals.

  • January

    Map of cascadia subduction zone

    Don't freak out: Dams generally do well in earthquakes

    Scientists tell us the Pacific Northwest is due for another very large earthquake a – from the Cascadia Subduction Zone off the Pacific coast. The historical performance of dams in seismic events has been exceptionally good. Only one concrete dam in modern history has ever failed as the result of a seismic event, mainly due to the fault running directly beneath it. Generally, concrete dams have sustained only minor damage.

  • March

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Operations and Maintenance Work Plan for fiscal year 2014 includes $1,262,000 to dredge the navigation channel used by mariners at the Port of Port Orford, Ore.

    Corps FY14 work plan provides funding for coastal dredging

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently released its Fiscal Year 2014 work plans for the Army Civil Works program. The Operation and Maintenance Plan includes nearly $15 million for maintenance dredging of the federal navigation channels used by Oregon’s small coastal ports. The plan also includes $1.2 million to dredge the Skipanon Channel, Ore., and $1.8 million to dredge the Chinook channel and Baker Bay, Wash.

  • September

    Through four cross-country mobilizations to MOTCO, the seven-person dive team utilized a surface-supplied SCUBA methodology to dive 95 times within nine weeks -- using 190 tanks of air to perform 285 hours of underwater work. The Portland District Office of Dive/ROV Operations and Safety led the Corps’ underwater execution of MOTCO’s pier inspections.

    Portland District dive office oversees critical inspections of Army piers in California

    The Portland District Office of Dive/ROV Operations and Safety led the Corps’ underwater execution of MOTCO’s pier inspections in California this summer.

  • August

    Rendering of The Dalles Dam Spillway, Columbia River, Oregon, 1954

    District takes Dam Safety exercises to community partners

    The District’s Dam Safety and Readiness sections are following an aggressive schedule of internal drills, but are also traveling to the Rogue and Willamette basins and the Columbia Gorge this summer to hold project familiarization sessions and tabletop exercises with local and county emergency managers and responders.
  • Overhead bridge cranes travel the interior length of Corps powerhouses, mounted on parallel rails above the huge generators. A hoist, the lifting component of a crane, travels across the width of the bridge crane carrying loads and suspending multi-ton parts for maintenance and installation projects. This is a smaller bridge crane, with a capacity of 300 tons; shown here as it “flies a load” in Detroit Dam’s powerhouse.

    Cranes take the loads off and up and over

    Omnipresent cranes do the heavy lifting around Corps projects, like strong workhorses on a pioneer farm. All Corps dams have one. The spillway gates at Bonneville Dam and other dams need them, and they slice the horizon of almost every Corps construction project.

  • Volunteerism - the unexpected gifts of giving

    Corps volunteer James Browne has volunteered every summer at Bonneville for nine years, and shares a reflection on his volunteer experiences.

  • July

    Rendering of the Coyote Island Terminal coal storage and barge loading site, courtesy of MorrowPacific / Port of Morrow.

    Coyote Island Terminal regulatory permit application review

    A Corps Message update on the current status of the review process for the Coyote Island Terminal regulatory permit application.
  • Portland District’s dredge Essayons and its crew spent part of their summer in Alaska, dredging in the Cook Inlet navigation channel about six miles from Anchorage. The federal navigation channel was constructed in 2000 and is essential to ship traffic entering and leaving the Port of Anchorage. Before the Essayons arrived, sand in the channel reduced depths by eight to ten feet above the authorized depth. The ship removed more than two and a half million cubic yards of material, nearly 300,000 truck loads, from the navigation channel in just 33 days. The Essayons is one of only two Corps-owned dredges on the West Coast. The ship was built in 1983 and designed to dredge anywhere in the world. Its work typically takes it from Hawaii to the Pacific Northwest to Alaska. Getting the Essayons to Alaska for the 2013 season required considerable team effort across several Corps districts.

    Essayons dredges Alaskan channel

    Portland District's dredge Essayons spent some of its summer dredging the Cook Inlet navigation channel, which is about six miles from Anchorage, Alaska.

  • June

    Hundreds of spectators attend the “Tri at the Grove” to cheer on their friends and family members.

    Willamette Valley reservoirs ideal for sporting events

    The Corps hosts numerous sporting events each year on its reservoirs in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.