24 Oct 2016

Aurora, CO VA Health Center project nears 80 percent completion; focusing on the task at hand

It has been nearly a year since the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Omaha District awarded a $570 million fixed price-incentive contract to Kiewit-Turner, A Joint Venture, to continue construction of the Veterans Affairs Eastern Colorado Health Care System Hospital in Aurora, Colorado. The notice to proceed was issued a few days later on Nov. 2. The project is being constructed in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Veterans Affairs with Kiewit-Turner as the primary contractor. In mid-June, the project, 12 buildings includes 2 inpatient buildings, 2 clinic buildings, a diagnostic and treatment center, a research building, concourse, and energy center totaling 1.2 million square feet, and 3 garages for staff and visitor parking totaling 2,242 spaces, was nearly 55 percent complete.

15 Sep 2016

100-year-old National Park Service's roots go deeper with U.S. Army

This year, the National Park Service celebrates its 100th anniversary. Yellowstone National Park, the world’s first national park established in 1872 by President Ulysses Grant, has close ties to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The connection between the National Park Service and USACE is one that has continued through the years.

15 Sep 2016

What's with the hat?

Sharing roots with the U.S. Army, the park ranger uniform, be it National Park Service, Forest Service or U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, got its start with the First Cavalry’s arrival at Yellowstone in 1886. From 1886-1916, cavalry troops were assigned at several national parks. Each service uniform has insignia making it distinguishable from one another. Hat bands and badges are different for each service.

12 May 2015

“Worst flooding in years,” isn’t most destructive

Flooding, with record flood stages in the Salt Creek basin struck Lincoln, Nebraska on Thursday, May 7. Heavy, unpredicted rain fell overnight on May 6, with rainfall totals at nearly 7 inches in Lincoln and up to nearly 10.5 inches in Fairbury, Nebraska near the Little Blue River nearly 70 miles southwest of Lincoln. As the Salt Creek and nearby tributaries reached flood stage, the state of Nebraska and LPSNRD requested technical assistance from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers under Public Law 84-99, which authorizes USACE to provide assistance when waterways are in or forecast to be in or above flood stage.

14 Apr 2015

What’s the Army Doing with Dinosaurs? Redux

On April 11, Montana State University’s, Museum of the Rockies publicly opened a new permanent exhibit in its Siebel Dinosaur Complex called “The Tyrant Kings.” At the center of the exhibit is a nearly 12-foot-tall, 40-foot-long fossilized Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton. The fossil, known by many names: “Peck's Rex” because it was found in 1997 near Fort Peck Dam and Reservoir in Montana and scientifically, “MOR 980” the specimen number assigned to the fossil when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers entrusted it to the Museum of the Rockies in 1998. With the opening of the exhibit, it will become known as “Montana’s T.rex.”