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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
St. Paul District
Public Affairs Office
180 5th St. E., Suite 700
St. Paul, MN 55101
Phone: (651) 290-5807
Fax: (651) 290-5752
cemvp-pa@usace.army.mil 
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Author: George Stringham
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  • September

    LGL meets with Beauregard Parish official

    Local Government Liaisons reach the hearts of communities

    Often during disaster response, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Planning and Response Teams such as, temporary emergency power, debris removal and Operation Blue Roof are the Corps activities in the limelight; however, the little-known and little-seen Local Government Liaison, or LGL, national cadre is operating in the background, providing a critical lifeline of communication between Federal Emergency Management Agency, the state, local officials, and the Corps.
  • Corps installs 5000th Blue Roof, commemorates one month anniversary of Hurricane Laura landfall

    Corps installs 5,000th blue roof on one month anniversary of hurricane’s landfall

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers commemorated the one month anniversary of Hurricane Laura making landfall with the installation of the 5,000th roof as part of Operation Blue Roof in southwest Louisiana.

  • March

    New "mule" on for the tow rail at Lock and Dam 6

    Lock and dam tow rail systems get upgrades

    The St. Paul District is investing more than $18 million in the tow rail system, vital pieces of equipment which assists tows locking through lock and dams when traveling upriver.

  • October

    Resident engineer Scott Baker, center, during the weekly progress meeting and site visit Aug. 11, 2015, for the Harper’s Slough project. The Harper’s Slough Habitat Rehabilitation and Enhancement Project, located within the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge, was planned and designed under the authority of the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program. It will protect five existing islands and construct an additional seven islands using material from the backwater and main channel. The program emphasizes habitat rehabilitation and enhancement projects and long-term resource monitoring. Project component includes dredging backwater areas and channels, constructing dikes, creating and stabilizing islands and controlling side channel flows and water levels. Once the project is completed, the project will be turned over to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who manages the refuge.

    Harpers Slough restoration gains ground

    After years of degradation, Mississippi River islands near Lansing, Iowa, are receiving much needed attention.

  • August

    Bonnie Greenleaf, Devils Lake flood risk management project manager, briefs Mississippi Valley Division commander Maj. Gen. Michael Wehr on features of the project during a tour of the area during his North Dakota visit July 6-8, 2015. The Devils Lake basin is a 3,810 square-mile sub-basin of the Red River of the North with no natural outlet until lake levels reach an elevation 1,458, at which it flows through Tolna Coulee into the Sheyenne River. Maj. Gen. Wehr received an orientation of the Devils Lake Basin prior to attending Devils Lake Executive Committee, or DLEC, meeting July 8, 2015. The DLEC, co-chaired by the commander of the Mississippi Valley Division and the governor of North Dakota, is comprised of representatives from more than 20 Federal, State, tribal, local agencies and governmental entities.

    Division commander visits North Dakota projects

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Mississippi Valley Division Commander Maj. Gen. Michael Wehr and St. Paul District Commander Col. Dan Koprowski visited the cities of Minot and Devils Lake, North Dakota, July 6-8, to meet with members of Congress, state and local officials and to see Corps projects in the region.
  • The end of an era was witnessed at 11:17 p.m., June 9, 2015, when the last boat, a recreation craft, locked through the Upper St. Anthony Falls lock. The Water Resources Reform and Development Act of 2014, signed June 10, 2014, directed the Corps of Engineers to close Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock to navigation within one year of the act being signed into law. In 1937, Congress authorized the Minneapolis Upper Harbor Project which extended the Upper Mississippi River 9-Foot Navigation Project an additional 4.6 miles by constructing two locks to lift vessels over St. Anthony Falls. The Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock was completed in 1963.

    Upper St. Anthony Falls makes final lockage

    The end of an era was witnessed when the last boat, a recreation boater, locked through Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam in Minneapolis June 9 at 11:17 p.m.

  • February

    Airboat operator Bill Chelmowski and survey technician Kurt Schroeder scoot across frozen Lake Pepin as ice thickness measurements are taken on Feb. 18, 2015. St. Paul District staff from the channels and harbors section took to the ice of Lake Pepin on Feb. 18 for the first of weekly ice thickness measurements. The thickest ice discovered this year was at river miles 771 and 766, where 21 inches were recorded.

    Lake Pepin ice measurements begin

    With an air temperature of -5 degrees and winds at 15 miles per hour or more, St. Paul District staff from the channels and harbors section took to the ice of Lake Pepin on Feb. 18 for the first of weekly ice thickness measurements.

  • January

    Working up to seven days a week, excavators move 50,000 to 70,000 cubic yards of material a week as contractors work through the winter months to complete the Roseau, Minnesota, flood risk management project.

    Roseau flood protection nears finish line

    Working up to seven days a week, excavators move 50,000 to 70,000 cubic yards of material a week as contractors work through the winter months to complete the Roseau, Minnesota, flood risk management project.

  • May

    Wetlands support flood risk reduction

    While wetlands play an important role in providing habitat for a myriad of species and serve as a filter for aquifers, they also play an important role in reducing the impacts of floods.

  • February

    Tammy Johnson, Big Sandy Lake Recreation Area site supervisor, adjust the gates at the dam, near McGregor, Minn., Jan. 23. Despite temperatures dropping below negative 20 degrees, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District park rangers continue working to ensure the reservoir levels are maintained as the district continues preparations for a spring runoff.

    Dam tenders work thru frigid temps

    For many people, the winter months in the Upper Midwest mean indoors projects. That’s not the case for some district employees.

  • January

    Jon Gustafson, chief surveyor for the St. Paul District, helped judge the Future City Competition that was held at the University of Minnesota, Sat., Jan. 18, where he represented National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying, or NCEES, as the technical judge for the award for Best Land Surveying Practices. Here, Gustafson presents the award to the Girl Scouts Dakota Horizons, the winning team from East Grand Forks, Minn.

    District surveyor judges Future City Competition

    Jon Gustafson, chief surveyor for the St. Paul District, helped judge the Future City Competition that was held at the University of Minnesota, Sat., Jan. 18, where he represented National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying, or NCEES, as the technical judge for the award for Best Land Surveying Practices.

  • October

    Damon Roberts, counsel, is the 2012 Joseph W. Kimbel Award recipient. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers award recognized an attorney that demonstrates the highest professional potential for future legal achievement.

    District attorney earns national award

    St. Paul District lawyer Damon Roberts, counsel, was recently selected as the 2013 Joseph W. Kimbel Award recipient.

  • September

    Sam Mathiowetz, an equipment repairman at Lock and Dam 1 in Minneapolis, demonstrates how a lock on the nation’s inland waterway system works to one of the young visitors to stop by our booth at the Minnesota State Fair’s Military Appreciation Day on August 27, 2013. Our lock model was a hit with all ages, whether it was the kid that wanted to play with the boat or the adult that’s taken his recreation craft through one of the full size facilities on the Mississippi River.

    Military Appreciation Day at the Minnesota State Fair

    St. Paul District employees took on the August heat and humidity during Military Appreciation Day at the Minnesota State Fair on Tuesday, August 27, to spread the word about the district’s missions. More than 94,000 people passed through the turnstiles on what would be the warmest day recorded in the fair’s history.
  • MINNESOTA CITY, Minn. -- Crew members from St. Paul and Rock Islands districts install a temporary gate at Lock and Dam 5A,near Minnesota City, Minn., May 23.

    Teamwork helps district repair damages to Lock and Dam 5A gate

    A tow heading downriver struck and severely damaged a miter gate at Lock and Dam 5A near Winona, Minn., May 16.

  • July

    Rich Schueneman, site manager for Lake Ashtabula, near Valley City, N.D., gives temporary water safety tattoos to a group of elementary students that helped plant trees at the park May 16.

    Lake Ashtabula park rangers partner with local school to plant trees, celebrate the outdoors

    District staff from Lake Ashtabula, near Valley City, N.D., and faculty and students from Jefferson Elementary School in Valley City, celebrated the National Kids to Parks Day at the park May 16.

  • November

    MINNESOTA CITY, Minn.—Nate Van Loon, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Paul District, diver, conducts periodic inspections at Lock and Dam No. 5 on the Mississippi River near Minnesota City, Minn., Sept. 18. The Corps’ divers work in very low visibility and feel their way around the entire structure. The inspections are a part of the Corps’ effort to maintain the 9-foot navigation channel at the 13 locks and dams within the district’s boundaries. Keeping this system open is vital to the nation’s economy. In 2010, 16.2 million tons of commodities were shipped on the Mississippi River within the St Paul District’s area of operation, including 8 million tons of grain grown in the Upper Midwest. The industries making these shipments saved nearly $384 million by using the inland waterways instead of overland shipping methods.

    Periodic Inspections keep infrastructure working

    The district’s water control structures, such as the 13 locks and dams on the Mississippi River, undergo a number of site-specific inspections and assessments. The inspections ensure the structures are safe and reliable for the navigation industry. After all of the inspections and assessments are completed, a periodic inspection report is created. The district completed seven inspection reports on locks and dams and reservoirs this year.