US Army Corpsof Engineers Engineer Update

Vol. 26 * No. 10 * October 2002

4"#

After flooding broke through the levees in Roseau, Minn., the state requested help from St. Paul District.Within hours, the district hired contractors to build emergency levees through the center of town. Thelevees allowed the standing water to be pumped out. (Photo courtesy of St. Paul District)

St. Paul District battlesN.W. Minnesota floods

By Shannon BauerSt. Paul District

While drought and fires ravaged much ofthe rest ofthecountry this summer, Minnesotans spent most of theirtime slinging sand and fighting floods.

From June 11 to July 11, heavy downpours on alreadysaturated ground caused severe flooding in much ofNorthwestern Minnesota. St. Paul District activated itsemergency operations center and initiated flood responseefforts at the request of the governor ofMinnesota.

"Flooding in June is an unusual event in Minnesota,especially flooding of this magnitude," said DaveChristenson, chief of the district's Readiness Branch."Normally, flooding happens here earlier in the spring,when the snow melts.

"What was really unusual, though, were multipleevents resulting in the district activating emergency re-sponse teams on a continual basis forthe past few months,especially considering this year was a mild spring for us,"Christenson added. 'The entire district supported theflood fight, either directly or indirectly, and they did itvery effectively."

In all, more than 870,000 sandbags were providedthroughout the state, and about $1.4 million was spent ondirect assistance.

Ada

Ada, Minn., which sits on the Wild Rice River, floodednot once but twice, cresting above flood stage on June 11,and again on June 23.

During the first flood, which became the flood ofrecord for the town at 17.19 feet, the U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers provided technical assistance and sandbags inboth Ada and Borup, Minn. Water levels had dropped

substantially, but a heavy rainfall two weeks later of up to10 inches in 12 hours caused an immediate threat of flashflooding, this time with the water expected to crest evenhigher.

'The initial National Weather Service prediction wasfor three high feet higher than the flood of record twoweeks earlier, and three feet higher than the existingemer-gency levee already in place there, which would havebeen very difficult to respond to," said Tim Bertschi, thedistrict's western area flood manager.

A Corps response team was set up around 3 a.m. onJune 23, and a contract was in place by 9:30 am. By lateevening on June 24, the emergency levees were com-plete. A standby contract was executed and held openuntil the afternoon ofJune 25.

Dick Sundberg, construction representative from theFargo, N.D., construction office, said he got called around4 a.m. and met with local officials by 6 a.m. He said,"No one knew exactly what the water levels were goingto be, but we knew we needed to move in materials as fastas we could because the roads were going to flood."

Sundberg said he estimated he needed around 14,000cubic yards of dirt to build the levees, but were able tohaul in only 8,000 cubic yards before the roads were sub-merged. The rest they obtained from the city's fair-grounds, ice skating rink, and alongside its main high-way.

"Placing material behind homes and businesses was adifficult task," said Sundberg. "We had city councilmembers going door-to-door, arranging accesses to thelevee. The city also provided private citizens as flagmento facilitate the movement of trucks and equipment."

When the water finally crested at 7 am. the next day atabout eight inches higher than the previous flood, the

A computer simulation shows exploding glassflying through a room. (Photo courtesy ofERDC)

ERDC isArmy largelab of year

By Debbie QuimbyEngineering Research and Development

Center

The Armyrecently selected the Engineer Reseahand Development Center (ERDC) as its Large Re-search and Development Organization of the Yearfor 2002.

The Office ofthe Assistant Secretary ofthe Armyfor Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology(ASA(AL&T)) made the announcement on Aug. 28,citing ERDC's development of research productsthat saved numerous lives at the Pentagon, and itsefforts in the war on terrorism by supporting Opera-tion Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

The Hon. Claude Bolton, ASA(AL&T) will for-mally present the award to ERDC leaders at theArmy Science Conference in Orlando, Fla., on Dec.2.

ERDC is the premier research and developmentfacility for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, con-ducting research in both military and civil worksmission areas for the Department of Defense andthe nation.

In this year's competition, ERDC competedagainst seven otherlaboratories in the large category(organizations with more than 600 employees). Itwas recognized for both technical and managementaccomplishments.

Technical accomplishments

In fiscal year 2001, ERDC focused its researchon the physics of blast/structure interaction and aphysics-based computational model to simulate theinteraction ofblast waves with complex structures.This model allows engineers to accurately analyzea building's vulnerability to terrorist threats, andprovide methods to retrofit buildings to defeat thethreat.

Continued on page 16Continued on page 16

2 ENGINEER UPDATE October2002

Insights

Masks should be onlyfor fun on Halloween

By Col. Lowell MooreChaplain, U. S. Army Corps of Engineers

It is October at last. We now enter that time of theyear when many Americans begin a three-month eatingbinge.

It begins when the children of America dress up instrange garments and go out into the streets on Halloweento harvest the bounty of candy that awaits them in homesall over our country. Then, the adults have the responsi-bility to eat all the leftover Halloween candy. It has beenreported that some parents will even stoop low enough toraid their children's Halloween sacks when they are leftunguarded.

This eating continues right through Thanksgiving,Christmas, and New Years. Then the eating is replacedwith our New Year's resolutions. At this time, peopleresolve to get on a diet, and they try to undo the damagecaused by three months of feasting. Unfortunately, theresolutions last only four days and are unable to cancelthe results of an eating frenzy that lasted three months.

Let's take a look at Halloween, this interesting holidaythat gets the eating started.

Kids put on a mask and costume, hide their true self,pretend to be something they are not, and then ventureinto the night to extort a bounty from the innocent pub-lic. Most cities and communities have laws that wouldprevent such activity, but they all seem willing to ignorethe law for one night and let the little monsters terrify thecitizens and force them to pay a ransom ofgoodies to bespared some dreadful consequence.

It would be good if this practice could be limited tochildren and to just one night a year, but I see grown-upsplaying an adult version of Halloween every day. They

put on a front, or a mask, to hide their true self and pre-tend to be something they are not. Here are some of thefavorite "masks" that grown-ups hide behind.

First is the "Superman Mask." This mask is designedmake the wearers appear to be strong, powerful, and self-sufficient. It makes them look like they can handle ev-erything allby themselves. They want the world to thinkthey have no weaknesses, and they don't need any helpfrom anyone. They would be embarrassed if anyone wereto find that they had an emotional, physical, or spiritualweakness.

Another mask is the "Super Scary Mask." People whowear this mask appear gruffand like to scare other peopleaway. They want others to think they are bad, tough,mean, and not afraid of anything. In truth, they are oftenafraid to let others get too close because they might learnthat there is a soft side hiding under the crusty exterior.

There is another mask and I call it the "Super SaintMask." People who wear this mask often come fromgood homes and are active in their church, synagogue,etc. They want everyone to think they are spiritually andemotionally perfect, and they have it all together. Theywork hard to keep the mask in place and hide any flawthey mayhave.

While I was attending the Senior Leader's Conferencein August, I met a Corps member from Fort Worth Dis-trict. As we talked, the discussion turned to the wonder-ful way that Corps family members care for each other,and she told me about a fellow Corps member who lostherhusband.

During the grieving process, the Corps member wholost her husband seemed distracted. She was uncharac-teristically slow, forgetful, and tardy. I was pleased tohear how the rest of the team willingly picked up the

slack until the grieving member came to grips with herloss and began to function with her previous efficiency.

I asked my new friend from Fort Worth, "Do you thinkthe rest of the team would have been as willing to pick upthe slack if they didn't know about the problems the griev-ing member was going through?" We concluded that ifthe grieving member had worn a mask and hid the factthat she was going through a difficult time, the rest of theteam wouldn't have known how to help, and probablywouldn't have been as willing.

The point bring, it is almost impossible to help otherswhen they hide behind their mask, just as it is almostimpossible to receive help when we wear our masks. Ieven wonder if God can help those who hide behind amask and refuse admit they have a need.

Go ahead and have fun this Halloween. Dress silly,wear your masks, scare your buddies, and get your candy.Then let's take off our masks, and be willing to admit thatwe are not as strong, tough, or perfect as we would like tobe. And let's be willing to help others when we find outthat they are as human as we are.

Oh yes! And get a piece of candy for me!(The views expressed nisie artcieiars ih u u ft

author and do not reflect the official policy or position ofthe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Department ofArmy, the Department of Defense, or the U.S. govern-ment.)

249th soldiers at work in 'The Stans'By Spc. Casondra Brewster

(This article was originally publishedin the "Belvoir Eagle" at Fort Belvoir,Va. Brewster is the assistant editor ofthat newspaper.)

The 249th Engineer Battalion (PrimePower) is one of the top on-the-go unitsin the Army. Some of the individual sol-diers push the Army's allowable limitsfor deployments.

On Sept. 6, nine soldiers of the 249th'sHeavy Maintenance Sectionleft the se-curity of Fort Belvoir, Va., and the conti-nental U.S., for Afghanistan. They vol-unteered to join Operation EnduringFreedom, and join a number of other249th soldiers already on duty in the re-gion that American troops call "TheStans."

At war. "The United States ofAmerica is at war," said Lt. Col. KevinWilson, the battalion's commander, dur-

ing an Aug. 29 send-offceremony for thedeploying soldiers. "This isn't a war likeVietnam, Korea, World War II, or WorldWar I. This is a war that stretches manyyears, back to the Crusades. It's embed-ded with deep hatred.

"This isn't going to be an easy war tofight, and it's going to be global beforeit's all done," Wilson added. "But theone thing about this is that the Armyneeds prime power. They're running basecamps in very austere environments andthey need power."

'The Stans.' As of press time, the249th has 61 soldiers, both active dutyand Reserves, deployed in Afghanistan,Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan.

The 249th deployed its first detach-ment last Nov. 1. Since then, seven de-tachments have deployed, including theHeavy Maintenance Section soldiers.

Continued on next pageSoldiers of the 249th Engineer Battalion (Prime Power) lay cable at a basein Southwest Asia. (Photo courtesy of the 249th)

ENGINEER UPDATE is an unofficial publication under the provisions of AR 360-1. It is publishedmonthly by offset for the Headquarters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Editorial views and opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the Corps of Engineers or the

Department of the Army. Letters to the editor are encouraged.

Deadline for submitting articles is the 15th of the month preceding publication. Subscriptions are

available free of charge but must be requested in writing. Circulation: 35,000.

Address mail to: EDITOR, ENGINEER UPDATE, CEPA-C, Washington, D.C. 20314-1000. Telephone(202) 761-1808. Photographs are U.S. Army photos unless otherwise credited. Available on theInternet at http://www.hq.usace.army.mil/cepa/pubs/update.htm.

Commander, USACE.... ................................ Lt. Gen. Robert B. Flowers

Chief, Public Affairs........................................................................ .......... Carol A. Sanders, APRChief, Command Information.............................................................George E. Halford

Editor ....................... .......................................................................... Bernard W . Tate

jl

October 2002 ENGINEER UPDATE 3Commentary

Money is not only way to be richBy Sunday PearsonSacramento District

My kids always asked me the hard questions. Neveronce did I hear them ask their Dad any tough questions,always me.

"Where do babies come from?" (Naturally, I'dtell them the truth - that the stork brought them wrappedin tiny pink blankets and gently placed them in a nestright outside my hospital window where I effortlesslywaited for their arrival.)

"Hey Mom, do worms ever get the mumps?"(Scientists have debated that for years, sweetheart, sowhen you grow up and become a famous biologist, per-haps you will find the answer to that age-old question,win the Nobel Prize, and buy me a Mercedes.)

"Why do we have a belly button?" (I had ananswer, but it escapes me at the moment.)

So when my youngest daughter one day asked, "Arewe rich?", it was just another in a series of questions Iattempted to answer.

The comical reality to her innocent question was thatwhen I grew up, I never had to ask my parents ifwe wererich. It was pretty common knowledge throughout theuniverse that we were not. Everything I wore either camefrom another human being who had broken it in for me,or it came from the Sears catalogue, best known for itslawnmowers and tools. The world had yet to experiencethe "softer side."

My mom purchased me one pair of shoes a year, al-ways at the beginning of school, always white and alwaystoo large so that my feet had room to grow. To this day, Ido not own a pair of white shoes!

Ordering from a catalogue meant that mom had toe :Lshti t'B 'i yfhyt litiif,;he' Was'lusy at

math, so the measurements were always off. EverythingIwore hung low and where it shouldn't. Sleeves were toolong, the waist to my dresses sat on my hips, and my coat

249thContinued from previous page

The 249th is the only unit assigned directly to theU.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The battalion's missionis to provide electric power up to megawatt levels tosupport federal personnel in any contingency from natu-ral disasters to war.

Very complimentary. Wilson explained to fel-low 249th soldiers, families, and friends gathered at theceremony that in this particular mission the Heavy Main-tenance Section will also help support the U.S. Air Forcein its Afghanistan area of operation.

"This is very complimentary of the 249th," Wilsonsaid. "I've been in the Army for 19 years, and I'venever had the Air Force ask me as an engineer for power.So, this is remarkable."

High tempo. Wilson applauded the soldiers andtheir families for supporting the mission, as well as ac-cepting the battalion's high operations tempo.

"In a regular infantry battalion, combat-heavy engi-neer battalion, a lot of other battalions, if you workthem real hard and drive them into the ground you canjust go back to other Reserve, National Guard, or activeduty battalions and get a brand new group to work,"Wilson said.

Pacing. "But as you all know, there's just one primepower battalion," Wilson added. "We're in this fightfor the long haul. We're going to take care of the sol-diers; we've got to pace ourselves."

Wilson said that the soldiers would be gone sixmonths to a year. "We'll push on the side of six months,"he told the audience of hopeful family members.

invariably brushed the ground.Well, you get the picture. We were by no stretch ofthe

imagination well off.To a child, volume is the measurement of wealth, and

so it was with my own children. When they were small(and I was a stay-at-home mom) I shopped at the localthrift stores for most of their clothing. Making my pur-chases there allowed for great quantities. It made littledifference to them where the clothing came from, justthat they had a lot! They never had one sweat suit butfive; never just two sets of pajamas but eight. And toys!They had a ton!

Since volume equated to prosperity, they must havethought we were very rich!

But as they grew up, volume slowly becaii lessnim-portant. We evolved to brand names - Doc Martens,Gap, Abercrombie and Fitch, bebe, etc. The question,"Are we rich?" was more complicated. As we entered

Despite hard work and deployment far from home,morale remains high among soldiers in the 249th.(Photo courtesy of the 249th)

"Road signs" are traditional among U.S. unitsdeployed overseas. (Photo courtesy of the 249th)

this stage of"poordom," my days at the thrift store werenumbered.

To further emphasize that we were now embarrass-ingly poor, we drove a run-down 1980 Volvo that the girlsabhorred! At their request, we often dropped them offone block from school so that they wouldn't be seen com-ing out of that rusty tank-on-wheels.

The only thing that saved us during this phase ofchild-rearing was the money tree that my husband planted inthe back yard. Thank goodness he had the foresight to dothat! I could often be heard tenderly directing our teenag-ers into the backyard where there was an abundance ofmoney growingjust within reach.

There's no question that our girls believed we werevery poor!

We somehow survived the "poor" years. We enjoyedfishing and camping with other "poor" families who havebecome life-long friends. We had plenty to eat (all of itfrom scratch). We enjoyed the freedom to worship andthe freedom of speech. We had our health and we hadone-another.

We have collectively discovered that Madison Avenueis wrong! No amount of "I can't live without it" pur-chases will provide personal fulfillment or the necessarystrength of character to make it in this world. Familyrelationships nurtured by mutual respect and love are byfar a more valuable commodity to be cherished.

Truth is, Bill Gates has nothing on us! We are rich,beyond our wildest imaginations!

Oh, I just remembered my answer to why we have abellybutton...

We have abelly button because that's where God pokedus with a stick to make sure that we were done...

Then He handed us over to the stork.(The 5taWs in thisarticl are those ofthe d thor anddo

not reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. ArmyCorps of Engineers, the Department of the Army, theDepartment of Defense, or the U.S. government.)

Lettersto theEditor

Oh, that Georgia!Great article on the hangar project. (Aug. 2002

"Engineer Update,"page 5.)You should note that Georgia received its inde-

pendence from Russia in 1991. As a country thathas spent most of its recent history (400 years orso) occupied by a foreign power, I bet they wouldn'twant people to infer that they were still part ofRussia, as the parenthetical references in your ar-ticle imply.

Lt. Col. Edward KertisWalla Walla District Engineer

That was my mistake, not the author's (GrantSattler).

I wanted to make sure that our readers under-stood we were referring to Georgia (Black Sea andGreater Caucasus Mountains), not Georgia (GooooDawgs!). - Editor

4 ENGINEER UPDATE October2002

Lt. Col. Ray Mitchell (foreground) and Lt. Col. Lyn Padgett hike through theDominican jungle to the landslide. (Photo courtesy of South Atlantic Division)

The impoundment at Matthieu, caused by a landslide, is increasing in sizeand depth. (Photo courtesy of South Atlantic Division)

Tele-engineering gets civil works testBy Rob Holland

South Atlantic Division

In mid-June, a group of engineers from U.S. ArmySouthern Command (SOUTHCOM) and South AtlanticDivision (SAD) gave tele-engineering its first test in acivil works environment. At SOUTHCOM's request,the team took a tele-engineering kit to a remote part ofthe island of Dominica in the West Indies to evaluate alarge landslide that had blocked a tributary of a majorriver.

The tele-engineering unit allowed them to consult fromthe site with a team of subject matter experts in MobileDistrict, and formulate a plan for a possible project underSOUTHCOM's Humanitarian Assistance Program."This exercise was designed to test the current system

in a real-world mission and evaluate what worked andwhat didn't," said Lt. Col. Mario Trevino, SOUTHCOM'smission team leader. "The difference between this testand previous missions was that this was a civil engineer-ing problem rather than a military operational mission.We were working in a civilian environment on an emer-gency operations issue."

Trevino partners on the trip were Lt. Col. Lyn Padgettand Harry Turner representing SOUTHCOM, and Lt.Col. Ray Mitchell, on active duty in SAD.

The landslide, on a nearly inaccessible ridge overlook-ing the Layou River, took place in 1997, and caused alarge amount of earth to be deposited in the river and oneofits tributaries, the Matthieu.

Landslide damage. Both rivers were completelyblocked, but the main river recut a channel through theslide and continued flowing. The Matthieu, however,was dammed by the slide, which has impounded an in-creasingly wide and deep reservoir for several years.Dominican officials, fearing the impoundment would

eventually breach its natural dam and flood downstreamareas, requested an engineering evaluation. Due to itsremote location, the situation seemed right for a test of

prototype tele-engineeringequipment."Because this was not a classified mission, we were

able to leave the secure module of the tele-engineeringdeployable kit behind," said Trevino. "Even without it,though, the kit included several pieces of luggage. Wetraveled by commercial air, and one person traveling alonemight have difficulties with baggage restrictions, so we'dlike to see future kits reduced to no more than two pieces

of luggage."Designers are already working on a smaller version of

the kit. The team discovered another limitation in thesystem's need for a vehicle battery as a power source.

The team transmitted from a remote area ofDominica to Mobile District. (Photo courtesy ofSouth Atlantic District)

"The site of the landslide was so remote that it wasn'taccessible by any sort of vehicle," Trevino said. "Wehad to hike about an hour into the jungle to get closeenough to evaluate it, but we couldn't broadcast directlyfrom there."

Instead, the team used a camcorder that is part of thekit to take video and stills of the landslide, the river, andthe impounded lake.

"It was pretty amazing, standing at the bottom andlook-ing up at this wedge" of dirt and rock that formed thenatural dam, Trevino said. They measured and photo-graphed the blockage, which was 71 meters high and 40meters wide at the base, and took motion pictures of theflow of the river.

"Since land-based vehicles couldn't get in, the MobileDistrict team wanted to know about the river flow toevaluate ifheavy equipment could be brought in by barge,"said Mitchell. "Unfortunately, the river is too shallow."

Coordination. After finishing the reconnaissance,the team hiked back out to their vehicle and hooked up to

broadcast back to Mobile District where team membersRobert Chamlee, a geotechnical engineer, and MauriceJames, a hydraulic design engineer, waited.

"Coordination is very important," Trevino pointedout. "We made careful arrangements before leaving the

U.S. as to the time for the broadcast. You must have theright people on both ends."

The team sent the digital photo and video files they

created to Mobile District so that Chamlee and Jamescould evaluate them and decide what additional informa-tioii they needed.

the original plan was to send these files to the districtbefore the live transmission, but we encountered diffi-

culties with the file transfer," Trevino said. "Once on-line, we received instructions on how to connect thecamcorder to the system for a live feed of the video."

The communications link was accomplished by theTele-Engineering Operations Center at the WaterwaysExperiment Station in Vicksburg, Miss. The picturesand descriptions from the team on the ground gave theexperts back in Mobile District a good sense of the prob-lem and of local conditions. They asked the onsite teamto return to the riverbank for mcrc ph-. :hoh they.,did the following morning before returning to the U.S.

"All in all, the mission went smoothly and the equip-ment worked well," said Padgett. '"This was the firsttime SOUTHCOM has seen this unit demonstrated, andwe were impressed." Padgett said she had expected thedeployable kit to be a bit more portable. "I had visions ofsomething I could clip to my helmet and put in my pack,"she said.

Back in Mobile District, the district team took the in-formation gathered through tele-engineering and devel-oped a plan to deal with the situation.

Alternatives. "It's a delicate problem," Trevinopointed out. "The terrain is too difficult for access byheavy equipment, but the blockage is too large and possi-bly too risky to be handled by a team of laborers."

Mobile District's plan included developing a warningsystem for downstream residents, triggered by a devicethat monitors the water levelin the impoundment. Othersuggestions included an analysis of the materials in thelandslide and its stability, a controlled draining of thereservoir and removal of the blockage, or building anupstream dam to provide better flow control.

Any of these alternatives depend on cost and the de-sires of the Dominican government.

Lessons. As for the field test of the tele-engineer-ing capability, the teams learned several things importantto future successes.

"Basically, the system needs to be refined to be both

smaller and simpler," Trevino said. "Each generation of

the technology reduces the size of the equipment, so weexpect this will be accomplished. In addition, the set-upand interface of the various components needs simplifi-

cation. There were too many cords and connectors."Other improvements would include better quality mi-

crophones and hands-free headsets to make it easier touse in the field.

"Overall these were small problems," Trevino said.'The transmission from the field went offflawlessly, andthe system was flexible enough for us to adapt to condi-tions on the site."

I ...T -- : ~-I-.--:- --

October2002 ENGINEER UPDATE 5District manages large logging program

Article by Mindy AndersonPhotos by Jonas Jordan

The U.S. Army Forestry Program (USAFP) was es-tablished in 1960 due to widespread lack of forest man-agement on land ownedbymilitaryservices. It enhancesmilitary readiness, conserves natural resources, protectsendangered species, and even raises money for local gov-ernments.

As part of Savannah District's Real Estate Division'sTimber Harvesting Program, counties are entitled toproceeds from timber sales on military installations. TheUSAFP generates roughly $17 million annually. Savan-nah District has the largest District Forestry Program inthe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, accounting for 42percent of USAFP's overall gross profits.

"Revenue to the Army Forestry Program generatedby Savannah District has ranged between $5.4 millionand $8.6 million annually for the last five years, makingthe average annual revenue produced by the district rightat $7 million," said Warner Spence, chief of the district'sForest Resources Section.

USAFP costs are paid by revenue from the sale offorest products and generally do not rely on tax dollarsfor funding.

"Title 10 of U.S. Code 2665 provides the frameworkfor financing the Department of Defense Forestry Pro-gram," Spence said. 'The law allows program fundingto be reimbursed from forest product revenues, and cre-ates state entitlements to 40 percent ofprogram net rev-enues at each installation."

The main goal of the program is to support militaryreadiness through good land stewardship and, as an addedbenefit, many counties receive money from the program.

"State entitlements vary widely from year-to-year andare computed for each installation with payments goingiolocal countis that conitribute to the total acreage con-tained in the installation," Spence said. "The entitle-ment money is intended to support public schools andprovide road maintenance for each county."

Because the entitlement amount is based on net rev-enue, the amount is directly related to the harvest vol-umes and market prices.

"Harvest volumes vary each fiscal year and forestproduct markets tend to be cyclical," Spence said. "Sincecosts and revenues vary, a particular installation doesnot achieve a positive net profit every fiscal year. Dur-ing the last five years, installations supported by Savan-nah District have contributed more than $2.5 million tolocal counties for an average of $500 thousand per year."

Mike Byrd, resident forester at Fort Benning, Ga.,sizes up a tree for the timber harvesting program.

And timber harvesting improves the overall vitalityand vigor of the forest.

"We perform general thinning of the forests, do spe-cialized work to improve endangered species habitats,and clear trees from construction sites if it is commer-cially possible," said Mike Byrd, Timber HarvestingProgram, Fort Benning, Ga.

Endangered animal species encountered such as thered-cockaded woodpecker, bald eagle, indigo snakes,and flatwoods salamander have specific guidelines inregard to harvesting operations.

"Guidelines dictate the time of year harvesting cantake place," Byrd said. 'They also establish machineryrestrictions in vicinity of known populations, establishbuffer zones where logging is prohibited, and providerules when endangered species are encountered unex-pectedly. There are similar restrictions for endangeredand unusual plants."

Besides endangered species and archeological consid-erations, ground condition is another environmental fac-tor influencing logging operations.

A feller/buncher can cut, haul, and stack trees upto 25 inches in diameter.

"If soil conditions become too wet and logging equip-ment begins to rut the ground too deeply, we restrict orstop work to prevent damage to the soil structure,"Spence said. "We tailor some of the harvesting systemsto match anticipated woods conditions in an effort toeliminate or minimize damage during logging."

Savannah District's Military Timber Harvesting pro-gram harvests timber at Army installations in threestates, and the civil program includes Hartwell Lake,Richard B. Russell Lake, and J. Strom Thurmond Damand Lake, as well as all lakes under Wilmington District'scivil works program.

The key to the success of the Timber Harvesting pro-gram is teamwork.

"The forestry program couldn't function smoothly oras cost effectively if the installation forestry staff andUSACE elements did not work cooperatively duringthe harvesting phase of timber management," Spencesaid. "The installation and USACE regard each otheras full partners in conducting this vital part of the pro-gram."

TDY feds not liable for damaged trucksBy Anna Stamps

Huntsville Engineering and Support Center

Carl "Bubba" Collision, a resident engineer staffmember, goes on TDY and rents a vehicle. This time,Bubba decides to use the new U.S. Government TruckRental Agreement and rent a pickup truck for the workhe will do on his trip. (Note: This is a hypotheticalstory.)

While hauling a load of supplies in his rented truck tothe work site, Bubba doesn't notice another carpulling out of the site, and the vehiclescollide.

Bubba wonders whether he will beheld liable for the damaged truck, andcontacts his district's Office of Coun-sel.

Unlike the recently revised U.S. CarRental Agreement, coverage for accidents under the U.S.Government Truck Rental Agreement involving rentalcargo vans, pick-up, utility, and straight trucks (com-mercial) has not changed. Specifically, according to theU.S. Government Truck Rental Agreement managed by

the U.S. Army Military Traffic Management Command,government renters will not be subject to any fee for lossor collision damage waiver.

In the case of an accident involving a vehicle rentedunder the terms of the U.S. Government Truck RentalAgreement, a government renter will not be responsiblefor loss or damage to the vehicle, except in a few cir-

cumstances listed below.Under the U.S. Government TruckRental Agreement, a rental com-

pany will assumeand bear the entirerisk of loss of ordamage to the rentedvehicle from anyand every cause, ex-cept where loss ordamage is caused by

one or more of the following:* Willful or wanton negligence on the part of a driver.* Obtaining the vehicle through fraud or misrepre-

sentation.* Operation of the vehicle by a driver who is under

the influence of intoxicants or any prohibited drugs.* Use of the vehicle for any illegal purpose.* Use of the vehicle in pushing or towing another

vehicle.*Use or permitting the vehicle to carry passengers or

property for hire.* Operating the vehicle in live artillery fire exercises,

or in tactical maneuver training.* Operating the vehicle in a test, race, or contest.* Operation across international boundaries unless

specifically authorized at the time of rental.* In the event that the vehicle is stolen and renter

cannot produce vehicle keys, unless filed police reportindicates keys were stolen through theft or robbery.

* Operation of the vehicle off paved, graded, state orprofessionally maintained roads, or driveways, exceptwhen the company has agreed to this in writing before-hand.

These guidelines, which previously applied to all gov-ernment vehicle rentals, now only apply to the rental ofcargo vans, pickup, utility, and straight trucks.

(Anna Stamps works in the Office of Counsel at theHuntsville Center.)

ENGINEER UPDATE October 2002

Joint effortsbring plants

back to Penn.mountain

By Chanel WeaverBaltimore District

Blue Mountain, a mountainthat runs through the small townofPalmertonin eastern Pennsyl-vania, looks like one of nature'sjewels. Surrounded by tall, ro-bust trees and green, healthygrass, this mountain serves as anurturing habitat for birds andother wildlife. The mountainseems to be a typical example ofnature and its beauty.

But Blue Mountain has not al-ways been beautiful. In fact, itsvibrant envimnment is partlytheresult ofajoint restoration effortby the Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA), in conjunctionwith the U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers andZinc CorporationofAmerica, to epair the rapidlydecaying mountain.

Before restoration

Fifteen years ago, visitors toBlue Mountain witnessed a scenequite different from the one thatexists today. Parts of the moun-tain were severely damaged.Barren trees populated the re-gion, and wildlife deserted thearea in search of a better envi-ronment.

"There was nothing there,"said Larry Piazza, a BaltimoreDistrict project engineer whohas been working on the multi-million dollar Blue Mountainrestoration project since 1986."You could walk on the moun-tain in the middle ofthe summerand you wouldn't get a single bugbite because there was nothingthere."

John Lombardo, another Bal-timore District employee, saidthat Blue Mountain was quite adisaster when he came on thescene more than 10 years ago.

"When we first arrived here,it looked like a nuclear disaster,"said Lombardo, who serves as theconstruction representative onthe site. "It wasnothingbutdeadtrees. There were no animalsanywhere."

During the first halfof the 20thcentury, the primary employerin Palmerton was the New Jer-sey Zinc Company, predecessorofZinc Corporation ofAmerica.

For nearly 70 years, this com-pany emitted huge quantities ofheavy metals such as zinc, lead,copper, cadmium, and arsenic.Eventually, the fallout from thesmelting operations causedbuildup of these metals on themountain. Contactwithrainwa-ter spread the contaminationfrom the soil to the surface waterrunoff and groundwater.

This pollution led to the de-cay of 2,000 acres on the moun-tain. Soon, runoff and erosioncarried contaminants into thenearby Aquashicola Creek andLehigh River.

All helped destroy it

Joseph Plechavy, who haslivedinPalmerton sincehis birth88 years ago and who worked atthe zinc company for 43 years,knows that he indirectly playeda part in polluting the environ-ment.

But while the New Jersey ZincCompany is widely held respon-sible for destroying parts of themountain, Plechavy said the zinccompany should not be blamedentirely for the mountain's de-cay.

"We all had a part in destroy-ing the mountain," saidPlechavy, who also serves as thetown historian. "We broughtdown wood from its trees to heatour homes, and we plucked itshuckleberries so we could eathuckleberry pie."

Restoration inprogress

By the late '80s it was evidentthat Blue Mountain neededremediation. In 1987, the EPAidentified a number of compa-nies as potentially responsible forthe mountain's decay and initi-ated an effort to clean it up. Mostof the responsibility for restor-ingthe mountain was assigned toZinc Corporation of America,but the Corps also played an im-portant role.

"The Corps was primarily re-sponsible for overseeing the on-going restoration work by theresponsible parties, and for giv-ing technical assistance to theEPA," said Lilian Chudnovsky,

A truck moves up Blue Mountain spewing a mixture of sludge and fly ash to aid therevegetation process. (Photo by Chanel Weaver, Baltimore District)

Blue Mountain is partly revegetated, thanks to joint restoration efforts by the EnvironmentalProtection Agency, Corps of Engineers, and Zinc Corporation of America. (Photo courtesy ofBaltimore District)

Programs and Project Manage-mentproject managerforthe BlueMountain project. Chudnovskysaid that the Corps was also re-sponsible for enforcing theEPA's guidelines and regula-tions.

The first half of the restora-tionbeganin 1991 and ended fouryears later. This remediationprocess provided an applicationof a sludge and fly ash mixtureto the slopes of Blue Mountain,and planting grass and tree seed-lings into the mixture to formvegetative cover.

Zinc Corporation ofAmericatreated the run-off from themountain to ensure that the con-taminants would not pollutenearby lakes, streams, and riv-ers.

In 1996, the Corps involve-ment with the project changed

from restoring the mountain tomaintaining the parts of themountain thathad beenrestored."'he contaminants are still there,so maintenance of the site lastsforever," said Piazza.

But there still remains on themountain an additional 1,000acres that need to be revegetated.

Community reaction

Today, Blue Mountain is quiteclose to regaining its formerbeauty. The grass is greener, thetrees are stronger, and the wild-life has returned.

"Since the mountain has beenrestored, turkeys, pheasants,foxes, deer - everything is backon the mountain," said Piazza.

With about half of the moun-tain restored, the residents ofPalmerton say they are grateful

for the work the Corps and otheragencies have done.

"Every time I go out, I look atthe mountain," said Plechavy."Now I can say that the moun-tain looks good."

Plechavy's niece, Pat Huber,who is also the deputy for smallbusiness in Baltimore District, isalso pleased with the restorationeffort.

"I know the townspeople areextremely happy with what theCorps has done, and it makes meextremely proud as a Corps em-ployee," said Huber.

Piazza said he is glad that hehas played a role in preservingnature.

"It's really been a rewardingjob," said Piazza. "Anybody canrestore a building, but to bringan environment back is justamazing."

October2002 ENGINEER UPDATE 7

Ordnance removed from Ft. RitchieBy Marshall HudsonBaltimore District

A year ahead of schedule, under bud-get and with a perfect contractor safetyrecord, Baltimore District's $7.2 millionordnance and explosive removal projectat Fort Ritchie, Md., reached its opera-tional one-year anniversary in June.

Managed by personnel from thedistrict's Environmental RemediationResident Office, the project is the cleanupof unexploded ordnance including mor-tars, light rockets, and grenades fromformer training ranges, and areas filledby soil from those ranges.

The project's original scope was toremediate 208 of the post's 614 acres.

That milestone will be reached by thefall, although the project's final area willprobably involve about 260 acres, ac-cording to Joseph Brutsman, project en-gineer.

"The project expanded because a 200-foot buffer zone where no ordnance isfound is required to ring the entire workarea," he said. "Every time something isfound near the edge of the project, theremoval area expands."

Fort Ritchie, located in western Mary-land, closed in September 1998 as partof the Base Realignment and Closure Act(BRAC). Baltimore District has been in-volved with the Fort Ritchie project since

High-tech sensing gear has found almost 300 pieces of unexploded ordnanceat Fort Ritchie, Md. (Photos courtesy of Baltimore District)

before the post closed. As planning forthe ordnance removal occurred, the teamremoved underground storage tanks andremediated hazardous, toxic, and radio-logical wastes at buildings like the photolab and the motor pool.

"We started with an Archival SearchReport; then performed an engineeringevaluation and cost analysis and finallydid geophysical mapping and data col-

lectionto confirm areas that needed to beremediated," said Brutsman. "Some ofthe records for the post did not exist, andsometime in the post's history a lot ofground was moved to make it more level,putting built-up areas over areas onceused for training."

The post belongs to the U.S. ArmyMilitary District of Washington (MDW)until it is turned over for redevelopment.

Turnover should be completed by 2005."Dealing with the Corps has been ter-

rific," said Bill Hofmann, BRAC envi-ronmental coordinator for MDW. "Allof the Corps people here, notably ChrisEvans, have really treated us well as cus-tomers. In a word, this experience hasbeen great."

Baltimore District has located, exca-vated, and disposed of almost 300 piecesof unexploded ordnance from the site.About 80,000 other metallic anomalies,which turned out to be everything frommetal fragments to nails to magnetic rockshave also been investigated.

The excavations were dug to a four-foot depth in areas with potential for re-use, and to a one-foot depth on themountainside. Deed restrictions prevent-ing future unsupervised digging will beplaced on the land when it is turned overto the public.

The Army has retained about 20 acresof the post for the Maryland NationalGuard. The remaining acres will even-tually go to the PenMar RedevelopmentCorporation, a state-created entity whosegoal is to maximize economic opportu-nities for Washington County.

Besides not knowing exactly where allof the UXO was located, the project hasovercome other challenges, includingcontractor bankruptcy and buy-out, with-out the schedule being affected.

ivilians take over Ft. A.P. Hill utilitiesBy Jean Pavlov

Huntsville EngineeringandSupport Center

Baltimore District, supported byHuntsville Center, successfully completedthe privatization of the electrical distri-bution system for Fort A.P. Hill, Va. OnAug. 1, Rappahannock Electric Coopera-tive (REC) officially took over ownership,operation, and maintenance of about 200miles of electric distribution lines at theinstallation.

This transfer was a result of more thanfour years ofworkbetweenREC, FortA.P.Hill, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineersand the Military District of WashingtonAcquisition Center at Fort Belvoir, Va.

Privatization

In 1997, the Chief of Staffof the Armyissued a policy memorandum urging in-stallation commanders to look to privatecontractors to provide utility services.During that year and the next, the Depart-ment of Defense created two reform ini-tiative directives that provided OSD guid-ance and set up specific goals.

In 1998, REC submitted a bid to theArmy for operating the electric distribu-tion system at Fort A.P. Hill. Located on76,000 acresin northern Caroline County,Fort AP. Hill is a regional center provid-ing realistic joint and combined trainingfor both active and reserve forces of theU.S. military, and for other governmentagencies.

REC owns and services utilities inmostof Caroline County, and has a district of-

The Rappahannock Electric Cooperative now has responsibility for operationand maintenance of the 200 miles of electric distribution at Fort A.P. HIII, Va.(Photo courtesy of Baltimore District)

fice in Bowling Green, Va. REC is alsofamiliar with the installation's electricaldistribution system, since it served thatarea before the establishment of FortA.P.Hill.

"Baltimore came to us seeking our ex-pertise in public/private partnerships, par-ticularly the financial, business, and pric-

ing aspects," said Plyler McManus, spe-cial projects specialist for Huntsville Cen-ter. The Center received total responsi-bility and authority to negotiate a busi-ness deal with the local electric coopera-tive.

In turn, Huntsville Center sought andreceived a great deal of support from the

local Defense Contact Audit Agency(DCAA) office. Scott Compton fromDCAA took a leading role in developingthe government's position, and in nego-tiation with the contractor.

Quantum leap

"The DCAA-Huntsville Center part-nership resulted in a quantum leap in ourapproach to this type of business relation-ship," said McManus. "We're currentlyworking to factor what we learned intoour own solicitations."

Baltimore District retained responsibil-ity for the technical aspects of the workand the scope of work.

"The Baltimore District contracting of-ficer gave Huntsville Center a great dealof freedom, allowing us to work closelywiththe managers and accuntants atRECto craft a business and pricing structurethatmet all parties needs," said McManus.

Partnership

"The Center, in turn, worked hard tokeep Baltimore District informed, and toseek feedback on where we're going,"McManus continued. "We worked to-gether seamlessly building enviable rela-tionships between the Center, DCAA, and

Baltimore District's Ed Rutherford, theproject manager, and Jerry Rifkin, the con-tracting officer."

"We're proud of the teamwork exhib-ited, the relationship we built, and the fi-nal product," said McManus. "But FortAP. Hill and the Army are the ultimatebeneficiaries."

8 ENGINEER UPDATE October2002

Building for peaceCorps' construction program in Israel may help ease tensions

Article and PhotoBy Grant SattlerEurope District

Europe District's Israel Program Office (IPO) is takingconcrete steps so that a long-hoped-for peace may movecloser to reality. The IPO is overseeing construction ofthree military bases in Israel to house Israeli troops andequipment that will relocate from facilities in the WestBank. The concept is part of the 1998 Wye River Memo-randum agreement between the Palestinian Authority andIsrael.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is managing theconstruction of two infantry training bases designed bythe Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), and a design-build re-serve division storage base. The Corps will soon solicitbids for a smaller fourth site, and the fifth Wye Riverproject is scheduled to begin next year.

Small cities

"It's fascinating, building small cities out in the desert,out of nothing," said Col. Larry McCallister, formerDeputy District Engineer of the IPO. "It's a win-winsituation. The Israelis agreed to move troops out of theWest Bank if they could get new facilities to move theminto. The Israelis get their troops out ofharm's way, andthe Palestinians get the troops out of the West Bank"

Funding for the bases was included in the fiscal year2000 Consolidated Appropriation Act as a Foreign Mili-tary Sales case authorized under the Arms Export Con-trol Act."The Corps was pulled in to oversee the construction,"

McCallister said. "We started in the fall of 2000 on theground, but the planning began much earlier that year."

The program began with a handful of people in Israeland has grown exponentially, but the IPO staff through-out Israel remains small at fewer than 20.

The Wye River program is managed via the direct pro-cess and is unique in that it is directly funded. "Themoney's in the bank and that's it," McCallister said. rTheIsraelis are interested in seeing that every dime goes intobricks and mortar, as opposed to paying for additionalmanpower. That's why on every site we have just theminimum number of Corps employees, and the IsraeliMinistry of Defense (MoD) has agreed to give us addi-tional inspectors to help us do the work."

Work on all three of the major bases is well under way.The next project, the Jerusalem-area Site 276, with itsunique challenges because of its location and proximityto historical buildings, will begin this fall.

Southern Infantry Training Base

The Southern Infantry Training Base (SITB) is a fewkilometers north of Beersheba in the Negev desert re-gion. Construction on this, the most remote of the threebases, began in mid-March 2001 and is now more thanhalfway to completion."This is in one ofthe isolated areas that's already used

by the Israelis for training," said Sig Milerski, qualityassurance engineer for Southern Infantry Training Base81. "Now we're building a substantial training base withthe whole range of support - barracks, dining facility,synagogue, offices, gymnasium, and classrooms."

The cost of the 80-structure project is about $40 mil-lion.

Kenneth Goldberg joined the SITB Project Office fromPhiladelphia District. He said it is not often one gets tobuild a synagogue while working for the Corps, espe-cially one that faces north to Jerusalem. Another cul-tural feature of the base is its dining facility with specialequipment to ensure kosher dietary restrictions will al-ways be followed, including a timer on the building'spower to ensure no cooking takes place during Shabbat,the Jewish Sabbath.

Construction underway at the Southern Infantry Training Base in Israel.

While most of the southern base is straightforwardvertical construction, Milerski notes that the infrastruc-ture (potable water, fire suppression systems, electricity,communications, sewer lines, and drainage culverts) hadto be built before any buildings were begun. "Initiallythere was nothing but a goat field," Milerski said.

The installation's positioning across a narrow hill val-ley, bisected by a rainy season stream called a wadi, re-quired that a giant culvert be installed beneath the site,and 360,000 cubic meters of earth and stone tobe drilled,blasted, and dug from the hillsides.

Three-quarters of that material was used as fill in lowplaces, and as berms for 14 weapons firing and maneuverlanes in two ranges that are part ofthe base. Topsoil fromthe cuts was saved and stones were crushed into gravelon-site for compaction into pads for building foundations.But the base itself is byno means flat; facilities are posi-tioned at varied elevations.

"The design is a combined MoD and IDF effort,"Milerski said. Construction is a joint venture by Solol-Boneh and Minrav Holdings Ltd.

McCallister said, "The program is unique for the Is-raelis." The quality and caliber of construction and thelevel of design effort that the Israelis put into the projectis a new development. 'They're looking for these basesto be showpieces for the future in the way they want totrain their soldiers and store their equipment."

For the southern base, that means the IDF LogisticsBranch Construction Center designers considered thepsychological aspects of training a cohesive infantry com-pany, and the impression the design and layout of thefacility will make on trainees.

'Hilton for soldiers'

Aesthetics are also considered. The MoD/IDF designincorporates regional style with cut stone facades alongthe main street, and rooftops designed to hide unsightlyair conditioning units, a feature of the new trainingbasethat has some Israeli soldiers calling it the "Hilton forsoldiers."

"It will be a lot more comfortable for the trainees withair conditioning for all the buildings," Milerski said.Compared to training locations now used, the southernbase and its sister base, the Northern Infantry TrainingBase, will have larger rooms, more barracks space, morecommon use areas, a larger, more efficient dining facil-ity, a gymnasium, and running track.

Nevertheless, it is their new locations inside Israel thattrainees will most appreciate.

"I think they'll appreciate moving to a new facility anda new area that's safer for the soldiers, and for their fami-lies when they come to visit them as they go throughbasic training," Milerski said. Parking outside the facil-ity is designed to accommodate family visitation daysonce trainees occupy the new southern base.

With an aggressive 18-month construction schedule,completion was set for October, but has been delayed byheavy spring rains that converted the choking desert dustinto slippery ooze that mired men and equipment forweeks.

Firing ranges were finished in January and since thenthe 10 company quarters areas, company headquarters,staffhousing, and all the support facilities have takenshape. But the security situation may impact thecontractor's ability to continue work on schedule. As thelabor changes to finish work, different workers with dif-ferent skills are needed. As of last December, IsraeliMinistry of Labor rules prohibit bringing third countrynationals into the country.

"The situation is Israel-wide," said McCallister. "It'snot directed against our projects. The labor issue is af-fecting the entire construction industry across Israel."The IPO is working through the Israeli MoD Buildingand Construction Department to see what solutions canbe found.

"We look at our projects as no more special than anyother construction projects, but these were agreed uponcountry-to-country," McCallister said.

McAllister's replacement as Deputy District Engineerof the IPO, Lt. Col. John Rovero, said no change to theIsraeli foreign labor policy is expected soon. "It willremain an issue," Rovero said. "We just have to makesure that the Israeli MoD is aware that the long-term re-sult will be longer project durations and more cost."

Northern Infantry Training Base

The Northern Infantry Training Base, near Hadera,mirrors the southern base in design, but is site modifiedfor a hilltop location beside an existing IDF training camp.

The northern base is being built as a sole venture by U.Dori Engineering Works Ltd., an Israeli company.

"Normally, under Foreign Military Sales, the contrac-

Continued on next page

I - - ; ---

October2002 ENGINEER UPDATE 9

Retiree has 26 years in Middle EastBy Joan Kibler

Transatlantic Programs Center

Twenty-six years gives a person a lot of perspective.'"The program is no less challenging today than it was

at its inception. Our role has changed, but not drasti-cally. When the program began, we were looking at amajor undertaking with a somewhat unknown future.We're still looking at that...the 'ups and downs' are com-mon to any organization."

Those were Wayne Henry's words in 1981 when hewas named chiefofConstruction Programs Branch in theformer Middle East Division (MED). He was five yearsinto his assignment with MED, one of the predecessororganizations to today's Transatlantic Programs Center(TAC). MED managed a $14 billion design and con-struction program in Saudi Arabia fully funded by thehost nation and accomplished under the Department ofDefense's foreign military sales (FMS) program.

While a great deal has changed in the 21 years sinceHenry uttered those words, some things have remainedremarkably similar.

"When I joined the Middle East Division in 1976, Iwas told the organization had a five-year future in SaudiArabia," Henry said. "Here I sit, 26 years later." InAugust, Henry retired from the U.S. Army Corps of En-gineers with 33 years of federal service.

Ultimately, the Saudi Arabian program lasted 12 yearsand, along the way, the Corps retooled to meet engineer-ing missions emerging elsewhere in the Middle East andAfrica, and eventually in Europe and Russia As the mis-sion changed, so did the organizational configuration withthe titles of Projects Office, Division, and finally, Center.

Programs. Twenty-six years later, in increasinglyresponsible positions in the Corps, Henry has seen thecompletion of a variety of engineering programs accom-plished on behalf of the nation's overseas objectives:

*The behemoth Saudi Arabia construction program,closed out in 1988.

* The front-line engineering services that the Corpsprovided to the U.S. military when the Middle East/Af-rica Projects Office established the Dhahran Area Officeto support Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

* Assistance provided to the Kuwait government inrebuilding its civil and military infrastructure followingits liberation from Iraq.

Wayne Henry retired with 33 years in the Corps ofEngineers, 26 of those in the Middle East. (Photocourtesy of Transatlantic Programs Center)

* Design and construction of facilities to meet U.S.military requirements in the Arabian Gulf, in accordancewith U.S. and host nation agreements.

SSignificant FMS programs that support Egyptian airforce, navy, and land forces requirements. (The FMSprogram permits the sale of military equipment and ser-vices to foreign allies).

* Logistics contracts that supported U.S. military de-ployments to hot spots such as Somalia, Haiti, and theBalkans region.

* Work in the former Soviet Union states and Russia.Besides the work expanding well beyond that envi-

sioned when MED was created, Henry has watched theslate of customers change and the locations grow. Asdirector of Engineering and Construction Management,Henry has been responsible for program and project man-agement activities in TEC's area of operations.

"As I look back on the last 26 years, the consistent

IsraelContinued from previous pagetor has to be a U.S. company, but under Wye River, Is-raeli firms could do it alone," said Michael Tibbs, a projectengineer at the northern base. "Inthethree bases we haveall three - U.S., Israeli, and joint venture between U.S.and Israeli.

"Another difference, besides the terrain, is they're build-ing more firing ranges," Tibbs said. "We have six exist-ing lanes that we're modifying, two that we're makinglonger, and we're building two more on the existing rangein phase one."

The construction of four more ranges northwest of thebase is on temporary hold due to an archaeological find."It rests atop of what is believed to be an ancient city,"Tibbs said. He hopes a planned excavation to determinethe extent of the archaeological site will allow a shift ofthe range closer to the base.

The contractor is planning to obtain fill for the centerof the base from the present hilltop range location.

"He needs that soil," Tibbs said. Ifthe range cannot bebuilt, it could cause a major contract change because fillmateriel would have to be trucked in from off site. Thearchaeological issue is key because work on some of thebuildings cannot begin before the earthwork is com-pleted.

Although the northern base is the last ofthe three to bestarted (ground broke in February), work is moving ahead

quickly, and the contractor is erecting cranes for a differ-ent building technique than used at the southern base.

"At the southern base a lot ofthe buildings were goingup at the same time," Tibbs said. "Our contractor wantsto start with a technique that he feels will be more effi-cient and effective using six tower cranes. They will startwith the 10 barracks facilities, doing one at a time, inhopes to overcome the manpower shortage by movingworkers to each building,"

Cranes will move pre-built forms from building-to-building.

Probably the most critical facility on any training base,the dining hall, has been started already to avoid somedifficulties experienced at the southern base.

"We're really appreciative that there's a base eightmonths in front of us," Tibbs said. "The value of thesouthernbase and the lessons learned can't be overstated."

Also oftremendous value is that the same IDF projectmanager is involved with each location, Tibbs said.

The current problem with bringingforeign workers alsomay affect the northern base in the future. "The southernbase is out in front; hopefully they'll solve it," Tibbs said."We can get some workers from the southern base becausethey'll be finishing, but the Central Base will be competingfor same personnel." He expects, however, that the IDFwill place priority on completing the training bases, asthey impact the greater number of people.

thread has been the strong need for Corps' services wherewe operate," Henry said. "The Corps has contributed tothe U.S. presence and ability to operate in an importantpart of the world. We've had a significant impact on thequality of life for U.S. forces.

"We've put billions of dollars of facilities in place tomeet customer needs, and we've had a considerable de-gree of success," Henry said. "The Corps' work in theregion greatly benefits the government as a whole."

A large portion of TAC's work supports U.S. militaryoperations, with facilities designed and constructed tomeet the needs of the U.S. Central Command (Army, AirForce, Navy, and Marines) in the Middle East. Addition-ally, TAC manages a logistics services contract in theBalkans that provides life support (food, water, sanita-tion, laundry) and maintenance and transportation ser-vices to the U.S. Army personnel there.

Another portion of the work supports the security as-sistance goals of the FMS program. It was through theFMS program (initially in Saudi Arabia) that Henry wasintroduced to working overseas and with foreign cultures.

Fascinating. "Dealing with foreign customers hasbeen fascinating and incredibly rewarding," Henry said."We must continually work to understand their perspec-tives and desires, which sometimes is complicated bylanguage barriers. Our foreign customers want to be in-volved, and they want to be in control of the decision-makingprocesses.

"Of course, this is not unique to foreign customers,"Henry continued. "For the Transatlantic Programs Cen-ter, and the Corps, to continue to be successful, we mustfocus on the customer's real needs and what it takes tosatisfy those needs, rather than on what we're comfort-able doing. Flexibility and the willingness to be innova-tive and operate in different ways are critical to the Corps'future. Wemustunderstand thecustomers intent andbewilling to accommodate it."

Henry said that none of this is new. "The Corps hascontinuously changed to meet the nation's needs, and itwill continue to change. The challenge now is to changefast enough to keep up with, and anticipate, future needs."

Hiring. He also expressed concern about hiring, spe-cifically in the overseas arena. "It's getting harder andharder to staff field offices, and we must continue to de-velop recruitment strategies to attract people to our over-seas locations. This, too, will require flexibility and in-novation. Ultimately, I believe the Corps will have moreprivate sector involvement in field offices. For instance,we may need to contract for portions ofthe quality assur-ance business."

Henry has a particular affinity for the construction sideofthe Corps business, and in TAC he has been the recog-nized "construction advocate" for years.

"While ryve had many great experiences in my career,the best job was when I was a resident engineer with Chi-cago District," Henry said. "It's in the field where thereal action is. Thatfs where plans come out of the dirt andturn into reality. This is the most fun part ofwhat we do.

Fun, success. "More than just being fun, though,we must succeed at construction,"Henry continued. "Ifwe don't succeed at construction, we don't meet thecustomer's requirements. As the Corps continues toimple-ment the project management business process, we mustkeep a focus on quality construction."

Duringhis tenure, Henryhas made dozens oftrips over-seas. He has met with hundreds of Corps employees andmany, many customers. He has watched customers andprograms change, and Corps people come and go. Hisknowledge of overseas programs and customer expecta-tions are unparalleled.

When he looks back on more than three decades in theCorps, he said, "I hope ryve helped people in their careerprogression. Good people have caused the success."

A modest statement from a man respected by many. Ina grass-roots employee awards program, Henry was hon-ored as TAC's 2002 Employee of the Year.

10 ENGINEER UPDATE October2002

CoinsArmy coin tradition sweeps armed forces, now enters civilian world

Article by Mike Tharp ___

Photo by Dr. Fred-Otto EgelerLos Angeles District

When Delsie Sharp received a "Commander's Coinfor Excellence," she had no idea she was part of an amaz-ing national trend.

Sharp got the coin for her work as the receptionist forLos Angeles District's Public Affairs Office. "I like thiscoin. It's different - colorful," said Sharp. "Other coinsare smaller and not as colorful. I'll leave it hanging hereby my desk in its holder."

Her coin from Brig. Gen. Larry Davis, commander ofSouth Pacific Division, is two inches in diameter, madeof bronze metal with red and white enamel trim. It is justone example of a tradition that has swept the uniformedservices, engulfed other government agencies, and is nowspreading to private corporations.

They have various names - "unit coins," "challengecoins," "honor coins." But whatever you call them, theyhave become the currency-of-choice for awards, identifi-cation pieces, and even (like stamps and baseball cards)collector's items. Since the early 1980s, when a federallaw first allowed wide discretion in designing govern-ment employees' awards, coins have been palmedthroughout all five military branches.

Although no one has an exact count of how many coinsthere are in the U.S. Army Corps ofEngineers, a quickglance at the collections in the ChiefofEngineer's office,or the Command Sergeant Major's office, indicates thatalmost every Corps division, district, lab, or other majorunit has its own coin.

More recently, civilian agencies and local governmentshave started distributing ther to their members and em-ployees. And just this year, private companies beganembracing the idea. For example, Raytheon recently or-dered a key-chain engraved with its Maverick Missilesystem.

Maurice Green, general manager of the Military Ser-vice Co., says his firm's sales of coins have doubled in thepastyear.

From a handful in the Vietnam era, the number of coinshas metastasized into tens ofthousands. Probably everyU.S. military unit now has one. Coins are minted forindividual campaigns like the Persian GulfWar. Specialgroups like former POWs and veterans are commemo-rated in coins. Fire and police departments, rescuesquads, Boy Scouts, fraternities, and defense contractorshand them out.

Most are made of antiqued bronze, but custom ordersinclude antiqued silver, nickel- and gold-plated coins.Dozens of companies have entered the market. Many ofthem post their wares and prices on Web sites, but themilitary grapevine gets the word out on good deals andinterestingdesigns.

The coin phenomenon has been common throughouthistory. Some trace its roots to ancient Rome whose sol-diers sometimes received coins for gallantry. Anothertheoryis that, in 17th century Britain, metal buttons em-bossed with distinctive designs were used in trade asequivalents to money.

In the early days of America, the U.S. Mint struck"peace coins" bearing the likeness of the president onone side and symbols of peace and friendship on the other.These medals were given to important leaders at treatysignings and other events. The Lewis and Clark expedi-tion carried a supply of"Indian Peace Medals" bearingthe portrait of Thomas Jefferson for presentation to im-portant Native American chiefs.

Yet another tale suggests that a wealthy World War IAmerican aviator had bronze medallions cast for the menin his squadron. A World War II version has G.I.s re-ceiving coins when they mustered out.

Coinage history declares that the modern manifesta-tion started in the early 1960s in Vietnam with the GreenBerets. According to an article in Soldier's magazine, "A

Special coins are the currency-of-choice in the armed forces for unit identification, awards, and tocommemorate events and deployments.

member of the 11th Special Forces Group took old abuses, including overspending and counterfeiting.coins, had them over-stamped with a different em- In 2000, reported the Wall Street Journal, theblem, then presented them to unit members...A Army proposed that only colonels and generals couldformer commander of the 10th SFG picked up on hand out coins. But an outcry from soldiers world-the idea, becoming the first to mint a unit coin for a wide quashed the idea. The Journal quoted Lt. Col.U.S. military unit. The 10th Group remained the Paul Mittelstaedt, "If the Army is so worried aboutonly Army unit with its own coin until the mid- the money spent on coins, buy one less M-1 tank or1980s." B-2 bomber and fund the coin program for the next

Then coins began to rain like, well, pennies fromheaven. 10 years."From elite units, the coin custom filtered throughout the Coins will be around for a lot longer g -an that Saidwhole Army, then into the other armed forces, and in the Sgt. Joel Welsh on the www.militarycoins.com Web site,1990s the ritual became a tradition. "For years after rm out ofthe service, paperwork, awards,

Today the coins serve as "attaboys" to reward jobs well and certificates of achievement will have long been lost.done which don't quite qualify for a medal or extra money. But coins will remain, with all the pride and symbolismAs they've proliferated, commercialization has led to some that they hold. They will be a constant reminder of all

the personal pride and hard work that I've put into mycare.Tech manager is drummer

for old-time blues greatBy Eric Lincoln

New Orleans District

Thomas "Wade" Wright, a technical manager in Engi-neeringDivision, had a rather unusual vacation in Canada.As the drummer for local blues guitarist Little FreddieKing, Wright performed in front of more than 45,000people at the Montreal Jazz Festival.

Except for the number of people, it's not that unusualfor Wright, who has played in Little Freddie's band incities around the world, including Paris and Amsterdam.

Wright said he's proud to play with a legitimate bluesman like Freddie King.

"Freddie writes all his own stuff; I was playing a lot ofcover music with these other guys," Wright said, refer-ring to his earlier days playing with acts like FreddieFender, Ernie "K" Doe, and other New Orleans artists."But Freddie's a classic. When these people meet him,like in Paris, they don't know what to think. He's an oldblues man, been through alot of depression and poverty.They all think he's got dough," Wright added, andlaughed. "Freddie's the real thing. He lives the blues."

Wright began playing drums when he was 16 yearsold, but stopped when Uncle Sam drafted him in 1968.He picked it back up again in 1975 to do a reunion showwith The Sparks, a band that had a major hit, "Mary

Lou," in the 1950s."I found out that playing drums was like riding a bike

- you don't forget the technique," he said.After that he dusted offhis cymbals and tested out his

chops again in Bourbon Street clubs and with big hornbands. But things changed when Wright heard LittleFreddie. "I got drawn into the simplicity of it," he said."Just drums, guitar, bass; not too much confusion; justclean pickin'."

Wade has cut one CD with Little Freddie, and the bandis scheduled for a trip to Switzerland later this year.

"I've been lucky," Wright said. "We schedule out-of-town trips with my annual leave."

Wright, who has been married for 35 years to his wifeBarbara, said the short road trips aren't difficult but onesthat require long flights "can get to you. To last on theroad, you have to be young."

Fifteen years worth of trips with Little Freddie offerno shortage of good road stories.

"One time, we were stayin'in a hotel on the 18th floor,"said Wright. "I wake up in the mornin' to go get somebreakfast and here's Freddie standing in the elevator. Isaid, "How long you been standin' there? He said, 'Well,I been up and down this elevator tryin' to find the first

Continued on next page

October2002 ENGINEER UPDATE 11

Dredges clean up Superfund siteBy JoAnne CastagnaNew York District

If you take a drive 410 miles north fromNew York City, and go west fromPlattsburg, you will reach the "elbow" onthe Canadian border, where the beautifulSt. Lawrence River runs and where sits oneofthe Environmental Protection Agency's(EPA) critical environmental clean upprojects- the Reynolds Metals SuperfundSite in Massena, N.Y.

The site is the Reynolds Facility thatused to be owned by the Reynolds Alumi-num Wrap Co., and is now operated byAlcoa Aluminum. But it is still called the"Reynolds" plant. The facility has beenan aluminum fabricatingplant since 1958.During the 1980s the EPA discovered thatvarious types of industrial waste, includ-ing polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs),were being discharged intothe St. LawrenceRiver.

The EPA said that the river needed to bedredged and capped, otherwise this wouldpose an environmental and public healthrisk to surrounding businesses and com-munities, including the St. Regis MohawkTribe Reservation, just one mile down theSt. Lawrence River.

The Mohawk community, which is po-litically influential in the area, is involvedin this project and is working closely withthe project team that includes EPARegionII; New York State; Alcoa (Reynolds); sev-eral U.S. Army Corps ofEngineer districtsincludingNewYork, Kansas City; Buffalo,and Detroit; and TAMS Consultants.

Kucera leads projectThe project is a Kansas City District

mission because the district supports all ofthe EPARegion IFs environmental cleanupefforts. They were incharge ofstaffingtheproject and called on several districts andarea offices for suitable candidates.

Mark Kucera, a 20-year civil engineer

DrummerContinued from previous pagefloor, but there ain't no number one.' Ilook in at the keypad and it's goes to num-ber two, then L for Lobby and M for Mez-zanine and all that. Freddie had been onthat elevator 10 minutes tryin' to find thefirst floor.

"But you gotta know Freddie," Wrightadded. "He grew up on a farm, he's not acity man. He's been shot three times,stabbed once, he's got a bullet next to hisspine. Butmusically,he'sthebaddestbluesplayer in New Orleans and he's gettin' alot of national recognition."

Wright even tried to write a book abouthis experiences on the road with LittleFreddie after one particularly memorabletrip to France where the group played at aWorld War II prison.

"I wrote 15 pages nonstop, but that wasas far as I got," he said.

Besides playingthe Jazz Festand FrenchQuarter Fest, Wright plays with LittleFreddie every last Friday of the month atBJs Lounge on Burgundy St. in New Or-leans. "That's our home base, where allour fans come from," said Wright.

Three dredges working within three-quarters of a mile of each other helpedclean up the Reynolds Metals Superfund site. (Photo courtesy of New YorkDistrict)

with New York District, was selected fromthe list of candidates.

"Since this was a Superfund project un-der EPA's authority and involved dredgingof hazardous material, I was looking forsomeone with both hazardous, toxic, andradioactive waste (HTRW), and dredgingexperience," said Donald Braun, projectengineer Kucera's supervisor. "I had acouple of engineers who fit the bill, butsince Mark had extensive Superfund expe-rience and was familiar with and well re-spectedby the EPAas well as Kansas CityDistrict, I chose him."

The Corps' responsibility for theSuperfund project was to provide 24-hour

' oversight of the clean-up operatioi'per-formed by contractors hired by theReynolds Metals Corporation.

'"The EPA wanted a full-time presenceon the federal level. I was the senior full-time federal government representative onsite," said Kucera. "With the Corps' expe-rience involving dredging, environmentalwork, and construction management, wewere an easy choice. My role was to verifythe remediation workwas beingperformedin compliance with the approved work

plans, and to keep coordination with allthe various agencies under control."

Challenges

Kucera said the project had its chal-lenges, but nothing their team couldn'thandle

"Environmental work frequentlyyieldschallenges in that you're not always surewhat is there until you literally dig into it,"said Kucera. "The short construction sea-son in northern New York complicatedthings considering the extensive scope ofthe project. Any problems we had to over-come became a group effort."

Publiciealth concerns were anotherchallenge for the project team. They heldfrequent Public Availability Sessions toanswer community questions. The St.Regis Mohawk Tribe Reservation's Envi-ronmental Staffattendedthe meetings andwere always present on-site. Their mainconcerns were contamination flowingdownriver into their property, the releaseofwaterborne and airborne contamination,and the safe removal ofdredged material.

Anne Kelly, project manager in EPA's

Thomas "Wade" Wright plays at the Montreal Jazz Festival. Bluesman LittleFreddie King is in the background; Wright has played for King for 15 years.(Photo courtesy of New Orleans District)

Superfund Division, worked with Kuceradaily. She said, "When I met Mark thefirstthing that came to my mind was 'mili-tary.' He's disciplined and intelligent, buta huge part of the job was dealing withpeople. Removingcontaminated sedimentsfrom an international border, upstream ofMohawk Territory and several drinkingwater supplies is not just a technical job.It's about people.

'he best, most highly disciplined engi-neers in the world cannot always negotiatesolutions when emotions and conflictingagendas are involved," Kelly added."Mark and the other Corps representativescould. I couldn't have hoped for a betteroversight team. Mark is also exceedinglygenerous - generous with his time, withwhat he knows, his sense ofhumor, and hisever-present bag ofpotato chips at lunch-time!"

Heartland Award

Kucera's dedication to the project andlong hours of work earned him the Heart-land Award. "He received this award dueto his exemplary performance in the field,includingoutstandingteamwork skills, andhis endurance away from home," saidJosephine Newton-Lund, project managerin Kansas City District.

The Heartland Award honors outstand-ing accomplishments by personnel outsideofthedistrict. CoL Robert Morris, aformerKansas City District Engineer, conceivedthe awaril Bfrc his tenure in 1997,therwas no frmal means to recognize outstand-ing achievements by individuals outside ofthe district, such as work performed byother Corps districts, military, and contrac-tualpersonnel.

"I enjoyed the complexity of theproject," Kucera said. "We had whatwas called the largest dredging fleet onthe Great Lakes/St. Lawrence Seaway,three dredges within three-quarters of amile of each other. All of the dredge spoilhad to be transferred to land for stabiliza-tion and disposal. Add in all the envi-ronmental aspects and the various gov-ernments involved, it became more in-terestingthan a typical dredging project.On the lighter side, it's a beautiful part ofNew York State."

Future work.

Reynolds (Alcoa) has spent about $47million to clean up the site. The first phasewas completed in early November 2001.The construction is ongoing.

"Twenty-four hour oversight wasachieved successfully," said Newton-Lund. "The EPA Region II was happywith our field oversight crew, which wasled by Kucera and consisted of personnelfrom NewYork, Buffalo, Detroit, and Kan-sas City districts, and TAMS Consultants,Inc. The Corps oversight crew providedthe EPAremedial project managerwith on-siteinformationdaily. Theyperformedthisin an exemplary manner. EPA also de-pended on the oversight crew's outstand-ing technical skills."

Kucera stresses that this project was ateam effort. "We had a great team ofplay-ers," he said. "I'd like to think I made acontribution to the team effort."

12 ENGINEER UPDATE October2002

nansen uam in Los Angeles uistnct gets a Hollywood make-over into a toborder crossing. (Photo by Dr. Fred-Otto Egeler, Los Angeles District)

An M-60 tank moves into position at Hansen Dam. (Photo by Mike Tharp, LosAngeles District)

'Charlie's Angels 2' films in L.A. DistrictBy Mike Tharp

and Greg FudererLos Angeles District

It's a tough job, but somebody's gotta do it.This summer, several Los Angeles District team mem-

bers found themselves at work at Hansen Dam. But itwasn't flood control or channel inspection or other dutiesusually associated with the 62-year-old structure. Theywere working with Hollywood, specifically with the castand crew of"Charlie's Angels 2" starring Cameron Diaz,Lucy Liu, and Drew Barrymore.

Film studios regularly ask the uniformed services, in-cluding the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, for coopera-tion or participation in making movies. In return, thestudios pay the Treasury Department for the use of Corpsassets and property.

The Corps demands safeguards for its public lands, andproducers understand they must comply if they ever wantto be invited back. The deal is usually a win-win propo-sition, and "Charlie's Angels 2" is no exception.

Columbia Pictures made the original "Charlie's An-gels" movie, which grossed $125 million in 2000. Thestudio was understandably reluctant to reveal many de-tails about its sequel. When L.A. District team memberswere at the shooting site, a dozen security guards withcell phones patrolled both ends of the dam, an accessroad, and neighboring property. But the Corps visitorsstill saw hints of what will likely be one of next summer'shottest films.

On the set, Diaz, Barrymore, Liu, and Robert Patrick("Terminator 2," "X-Files") went through their paces.Patrick strolled around the set looking bloodied, battered,and bruised, thanks to the miracles of makeup.

Makeover. The dam itself underwent a makeover,and few of the area's regular joggers, hikers, cyclists,birders, and equestrians would have recognized their be-loved recreational site. Through the digital magic of com-puter simulation, and the hammer-and-nails work ofscores of prop makers, the 10,475-foot-long dam willbecome an eerie fortified embankment at a Mongolianborder crossing.

One part of the dam, for example, morphed into amountainous man-made backdrop, complete with sandyspillway. The Angels, clad in cold-weather parkas de-spite the shimmering San Fernando Valley heat, tumbleddown that hill as a military truck "exploded" in the back-ground.

Fortified (but fake) lookout towers and a disposableplaster-and-wood wall with a Shaq-sized door added tothe Genghis Khan atmosphere behind the women.

From their perches under umbrellas and awnings, di-rectors and technicians watched the action on digital gearrecording the actresses' moves. The director is McG,who also directed the first "Charlies Angels" film. (That's

Cameron Diaz, a bit disheveled after filming anaction scene at Hansen Dam. (Photo by Dr. Fred-Otto Egeler, Los Angeles District)

his whole name, McG.) For a few frames, Richard Jung,a district contract technical whiz, peered over a videotechnician's shoulder as the cameras rolled. He saw, upclose and personal, action taking place 75 feet away.

Caleb Duffy, an assistant location manager, researchedseveral other Corps locales (Santa Fe, Sepulveda, Hoover,Irwindale, Whittier Narrows, Big Tujunga) before set-tling on Hansen.

On location. 'The width of the road on top of thedam was the key element, along with a dam crossing," heexplained. Duffy also worked with the Corps at HooverDam on footage for "Ocean's 11."

Cost and proximity were two other important parts inpicking Hansen, according to Duffy. "The actual cost toshoot a film doesn't vary much," he said. "The travelexpenses are what we have to consider. Shooting locally(keeping the industry in L.A.) is also a huge consider-ation. We want to keep the jobs here."

A week before the actors arrived on-scene and filmingbegan, a critical part of the million-piece puzzle thatmakes up the film arrived. The studio had rented a 49-ton M-60A1 tank from the American Society of MilitaryHistory and Museums. Society officers trucked the desert-camouflaged tank to an access road near the dam.

Like a circus ringmaster, L.A. District Superintendentof Dams Ed Kohnman surveyed the surroundings. Hedidn't want the behemoth to damage the road's relatively

new surface, so he insisted that the film crew lay downhuge tractor tires to buffer the tank's tracks from the as-phalt. As the crew unloaded the tires, Kohnman pitchedin to guide the tires beneath the steel treads.

"I can't damage anything," Kohnman said. '"The envi-ronment is all under control here. Everything is watereddown (he had the crew dispatch a water truck four timesearly in the morning along the shoulder and a dirt roadleading to Hansen) so there won't be any airborne dust."

George McLeary and Jerry Hernandez of the militaryhistory society co-piloted the tank over the tires to thedirt shoulder. With Kohnman leading the way in hiswhite four-wheel-drive Corps vehicle, the tank meandereda quarter-mile to the basedftha ----. - -_

'Let's do it!' There, poised like a giant beetle, itidled its 750-horsepower diesel engine. High up the 30-degree slope, crewmembers watched under the noon sun.Duffy aimed his small camera down at the tank. 'Thisshould be cool," he said.

Near the tank, Kohnman nodded and raised his arms."Let's do it!" he shouted to Hernandez, the driver. Belch-ing black smoke, turret facing downhill, the tank begancrawling up the 1,087-foot-long concrete incline. Steeltreads groaning and churning, it easily climbed at aboutfive miles an hour to the top, almost 100 feet high.

There, resting on 20 three-quarter-inch steel plates laidto protect the surface, the tank rolled to a stop, ready toattack Charlie's Angels.

'They leave everything immaculate when they leave,"Kohnman said of the Columbia Pictures crew. 'They'vebuilt us fences for free, painted things out here for free.These people are a class act. They mean what they sayand do what they say."

The filmmakers even strung new barbed wire alongportions of the dam's crest and painted over graffiti onwalls below.

Cooperation. During the filming, inside a trailerat the other end of the dam, Barbra West was ready withfirst aid, sunscreen, water, and other safety measures forworkers. She was working on her 24th film as an emer-gency medical technician. With her was Greg Dultz, adriver at movie sets who has chauffeured StephenSpielberg, Marlon Brando, Orson Welles, and FrancisFord Coppola. "The Corps has been fabulous," Dultzsaid. "Nothing but cooperative and helpful. They'vejust really bent over backwards to accommodate us."

And so Hansen Dam had added yet another profile toits once-stodgy silhouette. Now, along with a fakemountainside, two towers, and a giant door, there was areal Vietnam-era tank outlined against the blue sky.

Since Sept. 11, security at all Corps dams is at threatlevel Bravo. Duffy grinned and pointed at the tank. "Ifwe go to level Charlie, now we got protection," he said.

That's a wrap.

October 2002 ENGINEER UPDATE 13

'The precious gift of life'Corps wife supports her husband during, after hea

By Cindy FoleyJacksonville District

We had no idea that moving to Floridawould lead to a heart transplant that savedmy husband's life.

After returning to Buffalo, N.Y., froma short vacation to Orlando to visit ourchildren in April 2001, Kevin made uphis mind. In large red letters, he markedMOVE TO FLORIDA over the thirdweek in September on our kitchen calen-dar.

Move to Florida

Ijust looked at him like he was crazy.We had talked about moving before, butI never knew he was serious. We werevery involved in our community and vol-unteer activities. I always wanted tomove back to the Sunshine State where Ispent my first years away from my home-town of Buffalo, N.Y.

But move across country in fivemonths? Knowing my husband, some-how I knew we would do it, no matterwhat.

When we (finally) agreed on moving,we had no idea how ill Kevin was. Wehave lived with his heart condition foralmost 20 years. We still often joke thatthe reason he had his first heart attack atthe age of41 in June 1984 was e t houghtof marrying me. We actually got mar-ried in the Hospital Chapel as he recov-ered from his first heart attack.

While we lived in Buffalo, Kevin wason the best regimen of oral medicationavailable, verified by his new cardiolo-gist in Florida. But every time he askedhis cardiologist (in Buffalo) if he was acandidate for a heart transplant, thedoctor's answer was always the same -"No."

In retrospect, we don't know if thatwas because his doctor didn't diagnoseKevin's condition properly, or if therewas just no more to be done where welived.

Our main focus upon arriving in Jack-sonville and settling in was, of course,finding new doctors for both of us, espe-cially for Kevin. That was the beginningof a whirlwind of events that neither ofus could have imagined.

Failing heart

Together we went for his first visit tothe cardiologist. We were in for a shock.After reviewing Kevin's medical records,and then listening to his symptoms of dis-comfort, fatigue, and occasional gout, thecardiologist told us that Kevin had endstage cardiac cachexia.

Translation -Kevin was slowly dy-ing. The blood and oxygen flow to hisvital organs was so low that his liver, kid-neys, and lungs, and heart itself werestarting to shut down. Obviously, thiscondition is life-threateningif not treatedimmediately. We were told that Kevin'schances of survival were 50/50.

In the meantime, the cardiologist re-

Cindy Foley and her husband Kevin enjoy a new lease on life together afterKevin's heart transplant. (Photo courtesy of Jacksonville District)

ferred us to another specialist to implanta pacemaker and defibrillator to buysome time. That procedure was done lastDec. 18. It was supposed to be an in/outprocedure, but Kevin was in intensive carefor four days while his cardiologist pur-sued relentlessly to get him admitted fortests to Shands (a teachinghospital) at theUniversity of Florida in Gainesville.

In February we finally received wordfrom Gainesville that Kevin was acceptedfor testing and evaluation in February.After more testing and extensive psycho-logical evaluations of both Kevin and me,he was accepted into the transplant pro-gram.

Psychology

This is no easy process. If you smoke,drink, have a history of drug use, and arenot willing to change, your chances ofreceiving a transplant are nil. They arenot going to waste the precious gift of lifeon you.

Also, if they felt thatI couldn't handle

taking care of Kevin after the procedure,or wasn't mentally stable enough for whatcould be a long wait, he wouldn't be ac-cepted.

I explained that I had taken care ofKevin after two heart attacks, emergencytriple bypass surgery, and the pacemaker/defibrillator implant, so I was certain Icould handle this, too.

Kevin was not allowed to leave the hos-pital. He was admitted and hooked up towhat they called "rocket fuel" intrave-nous drugs to turn around the deteriora-tion of his vital organs.

We hadn't expected this situation andwhen Kevin asked if he could just gohome for one day on the weekend andfinish up a few loose ends, the doctor said"Do you want do die?"

Negotiations

The notion of a "National TransplantList" and first-come/first-seryed for or-gan transplants is simply a myth. Whilea nationwide list does exist, time is of

rt transplantthe essence, especially for heart trans-plants. Some organs will "keep" for aday or two, but the heart can be out of thedonor body for only about four hoursbefore it must be transplanted into thereceiving body. It's also the last organharvested from the donor, because it isrequired to keep the other vital organsfunctioning while the doctors removethem for other waiting patients.

Pre-transplant coordinators who workwith the doctors negotiate for the organs.With hearts, the patient's physical con-dition is most important, not to mentiontheir mental attitude.

After the initial scary moments, onceKevin was on those drugs his conditionturned around in less than five weeks.The doctors were amazed, especially atthe quick reversal of his kidney failure.

Long day

On April 19, at 8:30 a.m., I received acall at work from Kevin. He said theyhad a heart for him. I couldn't believe it.I started shaking and crying; they had toldus most people wait three to six months,and we had set our minds on the longhaul.

The one catch is that you don't knowuntil the heart actually arrives and thesurgeon sees it whether or not he will dothe surgery. I left work at 9:01 a.m., andreally didn't know if they would performthe transplant until 7:30 that eveningwhen the heart finally arrived.

Thankfully, all went well. It was anextremely long day, and the days after,waiting for signs of rejection, were evenlonger.

Kevin is still their "transplant patientposter child." He has shown no signs ofrejection. I figure he must have receiveda female heart; we're so much easier todeal with.

Grateful

That's a joke that our friends kid usabout, but in reality we just don't knowwho the heart came from. We sent athank-you letter through the transplantcoordinator to the donor's family, buthave heard nothing back.

They told us that about 80 percent ofthe donor families never write back.However, thanking the family ofthe per-son who gave Kevin, me, and our familya new lease on life was important to us.

We are extremely grateful for our newlease on life and Kevin's chance to finallyenjoy the retirement he deserves. Life isshort; don't take any day for granted. Younever know when it could be your last.

Organ donorYou can sign up to be an organ donor

on-line at www.organdonor.gov. Makesure your family members know yourwishes and, most important, also have aliving will. It will make everything mucheasier on your family if something unex-pected happens.

14 ENGINEER UPDATE October 2002

Training is glimpse at Lewis & Clark era'With Ocean in View' open to all,

prepares Corps people to answerLewis & Clark questions

By Denver Beaulieu-HainsHeadquarters

For those who might wonder whyMeriwether Lewis and William Clark setout to explore the Pacific Northwest, orthose who want to know why the Lewisand Clark expedition remains importanttoday, the U.S. Army Corps of engineersis sponsoring a Lewis and Clark TrainingAcademy in the Pacific Northwest.

This training academy, "With theOcean in View," will be held at theVancouver Water Resource EducationCenter, Nov. 6-8 in Vancouver, Wash. Itis open to anyone who wishes to attend.

Overview. "The session will startwith an overview of the whole Lewis andClark experience, then address more re-gional topics, which focus on their travelswithin the Columbia River Basin," saidCraig Rockwell, Congressional Liaison tothe Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Caucusfor the U.S. Congress.

Rockwell began planning for the bicen-tennial event since 1996, when he was theUSACE coordinator. "The sessions willbeopm ona firat-come, est-served basis,and are free to the public."

Corps park rangers and others who haveresponsibilities to meet the needs of bi-centennial visitors are encouraged to at-tend.

Discovery Box. The training willinclude how to use the Discovery Box, abox filled with items related to the expe-dition, such as a cast ofa grizzly bear track,sextant, peace medals, and a tin of beargrease bug repellant.

The training also features the NativeAmerican perspective on Lewis andClark; role players portraying Capt. Wil-liam Clark and York, the only black per-

son in the expedition; bus tours; and meth-ods of interpreting the Lewis and Clarkexpedition for park visitors.

"It's imperative to have rangers andnatural resources and navigation peopletake this training because so much of thestory is going to be on the river," said SusieKline, an outdoor recreation planner fromPittsburgh District, and a member of thefour-person team that developed the Dis-covery Box.

Although the academy does not chargetuition for its sessions, personnel stationedoutside of the Pacific Northwest musthavetheir travel and per diem approved by theiroffices.

'It's an uphill struggle," said Ken Wilk,Lewis and Clark Bicentennial Deputy tothe National USACE Coordinator. "Theideal is for every Corps employee to knowthe story but, realistically, ifa majority ofthose with high levels of customer con-tact take this training, we'd be in goodshape."

Value. But the goal is to be in better-than-good shape, Wilk added.

"Some personnel might not see thevalue in this training and spending thefunds, he said. "But we are conductingthese training sessions to broaden theawareness ofthe entire Corps mission andour abilities."

Wilk said that the Corps has taken somehits and received some bad publicity inthe past, but he sees the bicentennial eventas an opportunity to tell the Corps storyand look good at the same time.

"With Lewis and Clark comingthrough, we will be out there in the rightlight, in the Congressional eye, in the pub-lic eye, in the media's eye, and our imagecan change," said Wilk.

For more information see the websiteat www.lewisandclarkwa.org

An assortment of items similar to those taken on the Lewis & Clark expedition.(Photo courtesy of the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial Committee)

Bob Dorian (left) demonstrates a sextant, a navigation instrument that Lewis& Clark carried. Steve Allie (right), Director of the Frontier Army Museum,wears the Army dress uniform of the Lewis & Clark era. (Photos courtesy ofthe Lewis & Clark Bicentennial Committee)

On-line resumes simplify job searchA one-stop on-line resume center for applicants seek-

ing a job with Department of the Army is fast becominga reality. Recently, the resume inventories of four Ci-vilian Personnel Operations Centers (CPOCs) based inthe U.S. merged. Now applicants for any position ser-viced by the Northeast, North Central, South Central,or North Central CPOCs need submit only one resumeto receive consideration for any vacancy in these re-gions.

For a few more months, the West Region and theCPOCs and overseas CPOCS will maintain their ownresume inventories until they also merge early in 2003.

The one-stop center is just the first phase of the Armystreamlining process designed to make it easier for ap-plicants to locate and apply for Army vacancies.

The Army resume builder at www.cpol.army.mil hasbeen redesigned. Applicants will find that using Army'sresume builder is the easiest, most reliable mechanism

for preparing and submitting a resume, compared tobuilding a resume with their word processor and savingit to their computer.

By using the interactive resume builder, your resumeis more likely to be accepted because you will provideall the information required to determine eligibility andqualifications. Material from existing resumes can eas-ily be cut and pasted into the resume builder.

DA is also working to reduce the different mecha-nisms currently in place to fill vacant civilian positions.About two years ago, the centralized career referral sys-tem for Career Program-18, Engineers and Scientists(Resources and Construction), was eliminated.

On Oct 1, all remaining ACCES (Army Civilian Ca-reer Evaluation System) or SKAP (skills, knowledge,abilities and personal characteristics) centralized careerreferral systems were replaced by local job announce-ments that can be accessed at www.cpol.army.mil.

While jobs are individually announced at most loca-tions (other than those in West Region where vacanciesare announced on an open continuous basis), in 2003DA will begin using an inventory-based recruiting sys-tem to fill all vacancies sometime.

Under this process, applicants can submit a resume tobe considered for any occupation or location at any time.These resumes will be placed in an inventory andscreened when a vacancy occurs.

For most jobs, there will no longer be individual jobannouncements. By eliminating the announcements,Army will further streamline its processes and issue alist of available candidates much faster. This will be amajor cultural change for applicants who are accustomedto applying to specific job vacancies.

We will continue to keep you apprised of these devel-opments, as will your servicing Civilian Personnel Ad-visory Centers.

October2002 ENGINEER UPDATE 15

New Regulatory ChiefMark Sudol became the new chiefofthe Corps

tory Branch in Headquarters after 20 months aLos Angeles District's RegulatoryBranch. "My primary responsi-bility will be policy," he said. "Iwant to improve consistencyacross different branches, en-hance communication amongbranches, and improve the public'sperception ofthe Corps."

Sudol has a doctorate in scienceand engineering from the Univer-sity of California at Los Angeles.He worked two years in the pri-vate sector for two environmental Mark Sconsultancies, and for a year withhis own start-up environmental services firm. Sihe has held several posts in the district's Regulator

"We have excellent people in regulatory acrosstry, but because we have difficult jobs, we donrecognition we should," Sudol said. "We're workisidelines, making the tough decisions, instead ofpeople that we're protecting wetlands." He saidbiggest tasks in the new assignment "will be tonation how well we do ourjob."

Telework facilityNew England District (NED) opened an alternative

work arrangement (AWA) facility beside the Western AreaOffice inDevens, Mass. Employees who signed up for thepilot AWA program reported to work Aug. 12.

The Devens site is 25 miles from NED's headquartersin Concord, Mass. The Office of Human Resources esti-mates that the 30 em loyees in the AWA pilot program'will ~ Te :8 eVe weekCThe longest commutesaved is 214 miles a week.

The AWA facility is a former warehouse renovated byNED employees. It has 12 workstations with dockingstation capability to allow employees to use their laptops,and five workstations with stationary computers. Employ-ees can use their laptops as "soft phones" to receive phonecalls as if they were in their own cubicles. All worksta-tions will connect employees to the NED network to ac-cess e-mail and the Internet.

Eligible employees and their supervisors agree to aspe-cific work schedule of one or two days at the AWA facility.The agreement is a contract that can be modified ifneeded.

Day of CaringEach year, the turnout for the Day of Caring in Tulsa,

Okla., isthe largestinthe nation. Onthat day, the annualUnited Way campaign kicks off with thousands ofvolun-teers donating a day's laborto member agencies inthe com-munity.

More than 70 Tulsa District employees volunteered towork at local service agencies. They also led an effort toaid the children of Afghanistan. The Day of Caring coor-dinationteam gathered school supplies, toys, sports equip-ment, clothing, and miscellaneous toiletries to send toAf-ghanistan. Items were collected through Sept. 11, the datechosen for this year's Day of Caring.

Ahmed Majali of Operations Division mentioned theproject to the Islamic Society of Tulsa, and they joined theproject. Fifty boxes of donated items were collected. Dis-trict employee volunteers will pack the boxes, load thetrucks, and pay for postage to start the packages on theirwayto the Afghan children.

Millennium Challenge 2002The Corps took part in Millennium Challenge 2002

(MC02), a war-game conducted by the U.S. Joint ForcesCommand (USJFCOM) to simulate a battlefield in 2007.

MC02 took place at 17 simulation sites and nine livesites across the U.S. It was the largest joint military

Around the Corexperiment and exercise of its kind, with more than13,500 military and civilian personnel participating.

' Regula- MC02 ran July 24-Aug 15.s chiefof USACE representatives participated in MC02 at

USJFCOM Headquarters in Suffolk, Va, and at the Na-tional Training Center (NTC) in California. The NTCteam deployed with the 82nd Airborne Division andbrought aTele-Communications Equipment, Deployable[TCE(D)] device to tap any engineer resource necessaryfor a mission.

Early in MC02, events forced the Joint Task Force (JTF)at Suffolk to consider a means to repair an airfield. Theforces simulating this event were part ofthe live forces atthe NTC. Among them was the USACE team with theTCE(D). USACE representatives on the JTF staffrecom-mended that the TCE(D) be used to obtain the critical run-

udol. way assessmentOn July 31, this assessment and alive situation report

nce 1991 fromthe USACE engineers atNTC were successfullytrans-ryBranch. mitted during a video teleconference (VTC) with the JTFthe coun- Engineer in Suffolk. The JTF Engineer then relayed this't get the information to the JTF stafffor a decision.ng on the During the VTC the Assistant Division Commander of'showing the 82nd expressed his pleasure with the TEC(D) and hisone ofhis desire to have that capability in all deployments.show the

M. f~

Anne Sudar and her son Karl train onRiver.

Mother-and-son champs

I the Potomac

Before daybreak most mornings, Anne Sudar is onthe Potomac River, rowing with her teammates fromthe Alexandria CommunityRowing Masters Team.

All that early rising andtraining paid off Aug. 17-18when she and her son, Karl,won gold medals and becamenational champions in theMother/Son Double Scull atthe Masters National RowingRegatta. Last year's winnersin the event posed an earlythreat in the 1,000 meter race,but the Sudar duo passedthem and finished with a fivesecond lead. Anne Sudar and

Sudar won medals in three her son Karl tookother events - Silver in the first place in thewomen's D single (age group Mother / So n50 - 55); Silver in the women's Double Scull eventA double (with a younger part- at the Mastersner); and Bronze in the Rowing Regatta.women's D double.

When she's not on the river, Sudar works as a wa-ter resource planner in the Navigation Division atthe Institute for Water Resources in Alexandria, Va.

Real estate partneringIn Mobile, Ala., on June 16-21, members of the Corps'

real estate community took part in the 48th Annual Inter-national Rightof WayAssociation(IRWA) Education Semi-nar. IRWA is a professional organization for all right ofway professionals and practitioners.

Linda Garvin, Director of Real Estate, signed aPartneringAgreementwiththe IRWA's IntenationalPresi-dent, Alan Wurtz. USACE and IRWAwill work togetheronjoint partnering activities such as trainingoutreach and

psopportunities for both agencies.

On Aug. 12, two months after the signing, Real EstateDirectorate hostedthe first partneringmeetingwith IRWA.During this meeting, goals and expectations were deter-mined related to training and educational needs.

The first goal for both parties is to develop and stream-line trainingneeds forthe real estate community and otherUSACE personnel. The agencies are proposing a regionaltrainingprogram thattakes courses to a particular divisionwhere surrounding districts and/or divisions meet to learnand share. The first pilot program will be held in Missis-sippi Valley Division in early 2003.

The partnering efforts ofReal Estate Directorate do notstop with the IRWA Realty Services Division hosted their2ndAnnualSupportFr Others PartneringSession nAug.15. Representatives fromseveralfederalagencies and Corpsdistricts attended.

For the first part of the session, Real Estate listened tocustomers' concerns. During the second part, Real Estatestaff developed themes and strategies to address the cus-tomers' concerns.

National Guard ConventionMembers of Los Angeles District's Emergency Man-

agement Branch tooktheir Rapid Response Vehicle (RRV)to Long Beach, Calif., to support the National GuardConvention's Press Operations Section.

More than 4,500 Guardsmen from around the countryattended the event at the Long Beach Convention CenterSept. 6-9. Members of the California State Military Re-serve (CSMR) operated thepress section from the RRV.

"This was a chance toshow offour vehicle and toworkonit and the systems,"said Ed Andrews, Emer-

'ageiy 'W e'Wdnt'ftalways getachance likethis.The vehicle sets in the baseyard andwe maintainit,butwe seldom get to use all thesystems. There were somelittle things we needed tocheck out, and the CSMRhelpedusdothat. Weknow Members of the Call-thatallourradiosworkand fornia State Militarythebatteriesstaycharged. Reserve operate a

"We also learned how to press section in theacquire and hook up land Ready Response Ve-lines and electricity," hicle.Andrews continued. "Weset up communications links and had computers out forthemtouse. Itwas awin-winsituation for allofus. Wegotachanceto check our equipment, and theyhadachancetowork from a mobile news center."

Small businesssubcontracting fair

If Honolulu Districts first annual Small and Disadvan-taged Business Utilization (SADBU) Subcontracting Op-portunities Fair at Fort Shafter, Hawaii, is any indication,this fair is an idea whose time has come.

"The turnout was terrific," said Monica Kaji, thedistrict's Deputy for Small Business. "One way for a smallbusiness to start working with the federal governmentis tobecome a subcontractor on afederal project. Ithought thatperhaps some small firms were intimidated by walkinginto a large companyjustto meet somebody and promotetheir capabilities, so this seemed like a nice informal wayof bringing people together."

More than 100 people representing 68 businesses at-tended the Aug. 16 event at district headquarters. Tableswith representatives ofeight firms that currently have con-tracts ofmore than $500 thousand with the federal govern-ment, plus a ninth table with representatives of the U. S.Small BusinessAdministration, were on hand to introducetheir firms and talk to subcontractors.

16 ENGINEER UPDATE October 2002

MinnesotaContinued from page oneprotection in place held the water back. "It was com-pleted just in time, and the protection was critical to pro-tecting Ada," said Bertschi. "The town was very appre-ciative of the Corps' support."

Roseau

Around the same time as the first flood in Ada, over-land flooding soaked the city of Roseau, Minn., whichsits on the river of the same name near the Minnesota-Canadian border. The water broke through the town'sexisting levees, and around 75 percent ofthe city flooded.City officials requested that the Corps help mitigate moredamage, as the water continued to rise and parts of thecity were evacuated.

Of the 17 people who work out of the Grand Forks,N.D., office, seven deployed to Roseau. Tom Stiel, floodengineer from this office, said they arrived Monday after-noon, shortly before the existing levee broke. Shortlythereafter they were asked to provide emergency response.

"By 7 p.m. that night, we had contractors buildinglevees along the railroad tracks and through downtownRoseau," said Stiel. The levees stopped water flows intothe south and southwest of the city and allowed for thepumping of standing water behind the levees.

A combined city, county, state, and Corps effort to builddikes, pump water, and fill sandbags progressed through-out the week. The river rose to 23.12 feet on June 13,nearly two feet above the flood of record and seven feethigher than its flood stage. According to the FederalEmergency Management Agency (FEMA), about 95 per-cent ofthe structures there had severe water damage.

"We did all we could do in the time we had," said Stiel."I definitely think we did a decent jobs, and the commu-nity was grateful we were there."

When the water receded, the president declaredRoseau and its surrounding communities a natural di-saster area. FEMA moved in and asked the Corps tostay and help cleanup. At FEMA's request, the Corpsassembled a team to haul and install travel trailers intoRoseau for the victims of the flooding whose homes were

The president declared Roseau, Minn., and itssurrounding communities a disaster area. (Photocourtesy of St. Paul District)

too damaged for occupancy.

Warroad

When the trailers began arriving in Roseau, it was timeto haul out the shovels again. The next community torequest assistance was Warroad, Minn., located at Lakeof the Woods on the Canadian-Minnesotan border. TimRennecke, Lake of the Woods and Rainy River flood en-gineer, said the Corps began meeting with city and countyofficials on June 25.

"Local officials were concerned with rising lake lev-els," Rennecke said. "They wanted to know what wasgoing to happen and what they should do. Besides flood-ing, they were worried about wave action."

This large lake, normally at a summer elevation of1,060.5 feet above sea level, was already at 1,061.8 feetand rising. A harbor in the city was flooding and waterwas backing up through the city's sewer system.

'The city wanted to retain access for businesses andboat ramps," said Rennecke. "Plus, the Red Lake tribehas a casino and restaurant right on the shoreline. Tour-ism is big business up there. We tried to come up with aplan that would meet everyone's needs. The first and

most critical issue was to construct a plug for that harbor.As soon as we were able to get a ditch plug in place, thecity began pumping."

The second item needed was a 3,900-foot levee alongthe shoreline to act as a wave break, but in the event of alarge rainstorm it might also be needed as a levee.

Since lake flooding is different from river flooding inthat the protection needs to stay up longer and rock wasexpensive and scarce in Warroad, Corps engineers de-signed a levee made up of three different kinds of mate-rial, depending on the protection needed. Where the waveaction might be fiercest, they used both geo-cell and jer-sey barriers. Where flooding might be more ofa concernthan wave action, they used clay and plastic.

It was the first time St. Paul District tried using geo-cells to fight floods. Geo-cells are a clear plastic gridsystem filled with dirt. They can be stacked four feet byfour feet, and are recyclable for up to six floods.

'They're expensive at first," said Rennecke. "But vol-unteers provide labor for installation and removal, andthey may be used several times. So in the long run, theymay be cost effective."

For the jersey barrier portion of the levee, the Minne-sota Department of Transportation brought in a combi-nation of concrete and plastic triton barriers that couldbe filled with water, making them easier to move andcarry. Clay covered with plastic was placed behind thejersey barriers for stabilization and to provide a water-tight seal.

The water on Lake of the Woods peaked at 1,062.41on July 5, but it's still high as this story was written.Rennecke said the district set up a monitoring plan beforeleaving Warroad to ensure the levee held, and it did.

"We provided flood protection for the town and, at thesame time, we were able to keep the streets and busi-nesses open," he said. 'Td have to say it was a great teameffort between the city, county, and Corps."

Other areas of Northwestern Minnesota faced flood-ing as well, and St. Paul District providedtechnicall_.port to many more counties and cities. The heavy rainsfilled much of the regions lakes and rivers, and high riv-ers caused the closing of Minneapolis locks and dams.

Lab of YearContinued from page one

Research focused on the physics of a material's re-sponse to blast waves, the structure responding as a sys-tem with coupling between the wall structure and thewindows, and flying debris. Materials that undergo largeelongations before failure (high ductility) can absorb sig-nificant amounts of kinetic energy from wall debris. Ifthese materials are attached to the floor slabs ofthe mainstructure, they transfer loads directly to the floor slabs.The slabs distribute the load to the building framing sys-tem so that the individual building frames are not over-loaded.

The ERDC found that high-strength geotextiles orspray-on elastic polymers had the high ductility requiredto absorb high amounts of kinetic energy. The physicsmodel represented walls and windows as integrated sys-tems. Using the model, engineers abandoned earlier at-tempts to prevent walls or windows from breaking. In-stead, they developed methods to catch debris before ittraveled far enough into the building to become a hazard.

For example, methods developed to protect a roomfrom flying glass from shattering windows involved glaz-ing the window with a half-inch layer of laminated poly-carbonate glazing, with a plastic interlayer and a cross-shaped tubular steel catch system that prevented the win-dow pane from moving more than a short distance intothe room.

Earlier ERDC technology developed for building pro-tection from terrorist attack saved numerous lives on Sept.11 when the hijacked airliner, traveling at 530 miles perhour, struck the Pentagon. The plane hit a newly reno-vated section that had been retrofitted with blast-resis-tant technologies. These protective measures held up thethird, fourth, and fifth floors for almost 30 minutes, al-lowing building occupants to flee. Windows that used

The third generation of the TeleEngineeringCommunications System has been fielded. (Photocourtesy of ERDC)

ERDC protective measures did not blow out, preventingfire generated by the 36,000 pounds ofjet fuel from en-tering offices, also saving numerous lives.

Following the Sept. 11 attack, ERDC conducted a 30-day study for the Pentagon using the new physics-basedmodeling. Rebuilding the damaged portion of the Penta-gon and all future renovation will use retrofits based onthe model's predictions.

New wall retrofits are also transitioning directly to thePentagon, other U.S. government buildings in the U.S.and overseas, and other critical military facilities. De-sign concepts are also going to the Corps' Protective De-sign Center in Omaha District for incorporating into en-gineering guidelines to protect new or retrofitted build-ings against terrorist attacks.

Management accomplishmentsERDC was also recognized for providing communica-

tions technologies throughout the organization to enableits operation as a virtual organization. ERDC consists ofseven laboratories at four major geographical sites andmany field offices around the country.

In many cases, supervisors and employees are locatedat different sites, and research is managed and executedby multiple laboratories that are not co-located.

The communications initiative focused on employingtechnologies such as video teleconferencing, high-speednetworking, shared applications, and the Internet to sup-port communication and virtual operations.

Employees at different locations can work togetherusing these technologies, leveraging talent, facilities, andresources from other ERDC sites; redistributing work;and ensuring that communications technologies keep pacewith the evolving organization while remaining secure.

Third generation tele-engineering

Finally, ERDC produced the third generation of theTeleEngineering Communications System, which pro-vides secure, deployable, high-speed data, voice, andvideo teleconferencing. ERDC deploys them worldwideto provide real-time engineering support to the warfighterfrom technical experts anywhere in the Corps.

To date, ERDC has deployed 48 TeleEngineering Com-munications Systems around the world and is assemblingand testing 49 additional systems.

"ERDC receives about six percent of Army scienceand technology funding," said Dr. James Houston, ERDCDirector. 'To win this top award indicates the amazingwork done by our team members."