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Archive: 2021
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  • September

    Logistics team removes area offices’ excess equipment

    In the early morning hours of their five-day trip to Duluth, Minnesota, the Detroit District Logistics team were quietly loading excess equipment onto a flat-bed truck headed south. The equipment’s destination was the UNICOR facility in Kansas, an electronics recycling center that converts electronics into recyclable materials for resale to registered vendors. “By using UNICOR, we estimate $8,000 in savings to the district based on acquisition cost,” said Detroit District Logistics Manager Jena Graham. “Due to the area offices being spread out, it was not cost effective to consolidate their excess at one location for a typical pick-up.” A one-way trip from the District Headquarters in Detroit, Michigan to the Duluth Area Office in Minnesota is nearly a 12-hour drive.
  • July

    Developmental assignment offers growth, connection for USACE employee

    DETROIT - He cannot get enough of the Great Lakes; some might say he’s hooked. By day, John Allis is the Great Lakes Hydraulics and Hydrology Office Chief and by night, he enjoys being in, on or around the Great Lakes with his family. Allis’ office in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Detroit District handles a wide range of activities supporting the International Joint Commission, including water level forecasting, flow regulation and monitoring hydroclimate conditions across the Great Lakes. The Corps of Engineers has a reputation of success through skill development and knowledge gain. By design, district employees often have opportunities to do just that through developmental assignments. John recently completed a three-month developmental assignment as Chief of Water Management Division with the Great Lakes and Ohio River Division where he had much broader responsibilities.
  • June

    Corps of Engineers student trainee heads to med school

    SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich., -A Lake Superior State University graduate is gaining valuable work experience with the U.S. Corps of Engineers’ Soo Area Office as an Industrial Hygienist-Intern before heading to medical school this fall. Sophie McConkey, a local to the Sault Ste. Marie area, found out about the Corps of Engineers’ student trainee internship through a friend of the family. She applied for the position in early 2020 as a chance to work in a field directly related to her degree and that offered her a chance to grow professionally in her area of study at Lake Superior State University. During an interview with Sophie about her time with the Corps of Engineers and her student trainee internship, she answered the following questions:
  • March

    Corps lowers impact to fish spawning near Soo Locks

    SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. (March 5, 2021) - U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) officials will use dry blasting during New Lock at the Soo construction to avoid or drastically minimize impacts to fish larvae and adult fish spawning near the Soo Locks. The Soo Locks on the St. Marys River allow vessels to navigate the 21 ft elevation change between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes. A new Poe-sized lock being built will provide necessary redundancy in the Great Lakes Navigation System’s critical infrastructure. To build the New Lock, deepening the channel on the upstream side (west) of the Poe lock is necessary. Dredging is scheduled to occur in 2021-2022.