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  • October

    Photo illustration of a floodplain map generated by the Army Corps of Engineers Floodplain Management Services.

    USACE Buffalo District Provides Valuable Flood Management Services

    The importance of sensible floodplain management cannot be overstated, especially given the extreme damage caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, flash floods in 2009, and the recent slew of hurricanes that have battered the southeast United States and outlying islands.
  • Piping Plover banding crew (L to R) Mary Birdsong, shorebird monitor; Patti Barber, PGC Biologist; Stacey Wolbert, PGC Biologist; Jerry McWilliams, author and naturalist; Tim Hoppe, PGC Biologist; Cathy Haffner, PCG Biologist. Photo Credit: Tracy A. Graziano / Pennsylvania Game Commission Photo

    Piping Plover returning to Presque Isle State Park reflects power of federal and state partnerships

    Having been absent from Presque Isle State Park for over 50 years, the endangered Piping Plover has made a modest, yet significant return to the Park.
  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Buffalo District employee Michelle Barker receives her annual flu shot, as part of the District’s annual vaccination event, October 11, 2017.

    Combating the flu with a quick shot

    It is that time of year when the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that everyone receives an annual flu shot.

  • September

    An isometric rendering of a utilidor, a large underground concrete duct that has multiple utilities inside. The concept is to keep utilities together in one structure to facilitate future operation and maintenance in an environmental climate that has frozen ground nine months of the year. The use of the utilidor provides year-round access and also minimizes the potential of frozen lines, which can occur with direct buried utilities.

    Using remote technical review collaboration to ensure successful project delivery

    In the design of engineering products, a critical component is collaboration, whether it’s at the initial design phase or the final review before the project is posted for bid.
  • USACE regulator, Douglas Kapusinski, discusses permit compliance with representatives from the Summit County Engineers office, at a bridge replacement project site.

    Will your project pass a USACE permit compliance inspection?

    When you buy a car and register it at the Department of Motor vehicles, that’s not the last thing you ever have to do with your car. In New York State, for example, vehicle owners are required to get an inspection annually. Ignoring the law and not getting an inspection can result in a fine or even lead to the owner having to turn in the license plates and take the car off the road. Similarly, obtaining a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for a project is subject to follow-up compliance inspections, and permittees are expected to construct and maintain an approved project according to the terms and conditions of the permit issued.
  • Economist Steve Stalikas uses the USACE regional economic impact modeling tool called RECONS. RECONS is a regional economic impact modeling tool that was developed to provide accurate and defendable estimates of regional economic impacts associated with Corps of Engineers spending.

    Determining the return on investment of Civil Works projects: A look behind the scenes

    BUFFALO, NY—A team of economists and analysts from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Institute for Water Resources, Michigan State University and the Alward Institute for Collaborative Science met with the Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District at the Buffalo District headquarters in August 2017 to review the Regional Economic System (RECONS) model, which is a program used to assess the regional, state, and national impacts of projects.

  • August

    US Army Corps of Engineers Buffalo District engineer Robert Simmington measures a lot as part of a facility condition assessment on a federal property in South Korea in June 2017.

    Corps of Engineers does its part to protect federal assets domestically and abroad

    BUFFALO, NY—The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers carried out four major facility conditions assessments at U.S. military installations in South Korea in late June 2017, under an agreement with the Defense Logistics Agency in place since 2009.
  • Biologist Michael Voohees inspects one of the plants pulled up from the bottom of Cayuga Lake near Aurora, NY on July 17, 2017. The purpose of the inspection was determine the amount of proliferation of the invasive Hydrilla plant; the plants were later treated with herbicides on July 20, 2017.

    Herbicide treatment of invasive Hydrilla in Cayuga Lake completed near Aurora, NY

    BUFFALO, NY—The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District completed a scheduled herbicide treatment of the invasive Hydrilla plant in Cayuga Lake near Aurora, NY in late July 2017, having previously conducted a plant survey in the location the last week of June and again on July 17, 2017.
  • Chris Akios examines a basking trap to see if any spotted turtles have been captured.

    U.S. Military Academy and Corps of Engineers join forces to protect turtles

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District Wildlife Biologist and Project Manager Chris Akios joined forces with West Point’s Natural Resource Manager Christopher Pray to conduct a survey of two turtle species throughout the U.S. Military Academy (West Point) installation, West Point, NY.

  • July

    Contractors working on an environmental infrastructure project in Parma, Ohio on July 19, 2017.

    Parma, Ohio sees the benefits of the Ohio Environmental Infrastructure Program firsthand

    BUFFALO, NY—The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District met with local sponsors in Parma, Ohio July 19, 2017 for a kickoff meeting regarding a sanitary relief system project to be constructed in a residential area near Broadrock Court in Parma (see VIDEO).
  • An external view of a water level gauge house in Mackinaw City, MI. Photo by Jeff Oyler. Courtesy of NOAA.

    Gauging who does what: USACE, NOAA and how the Great Lakes water levels are measured

    The 2017 spring and summer flooding event along Lake Ontario garnered considerable media and
  • Gerhard Hahn performs a planimetric location survey of a dock at North Harbor in Petersburg, Alaska on June 12, 2017.

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District performs project condition surveys for three Alaskan harbors

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District Survey Team conducted project condition surveys (PCS) for the Alaska District in Southeast Alaska from June 5, 2017 through June 16, 2017, covering the Aurora and Harris harbors in Juneau, and the North Harbor in Petersburg.

  • June

    Adam Hamm (Buffalo District) and Steve England (Philadelphia District) tending a diver conducting an inspection of the underwater portion of Busan Pier 8 in Busan, South Korea on June 5, 2017.

    Army Corps of Engineers dive team returns from South Korea after inspecting dock at Pier 8

    Two members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District dive team traveled to Busan, South Korea to inspect a joint base dock at Pier 8, shared by the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy and South Korean military on May 30, 2017 and returned on June 9, 2017.
  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District Commander Lt. Col. Adam Czekanski speaks to students at Silver Creek Central School on June 9, 2017. Photo by Dr. Michael Izard-Carroll

    Army Corps of Engineers Buffalo District Commander shows leadership by engaging students

    The Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District Commander Lt. Col. Adam Czekanski visited his alma mater, Silver Creek Central School in June. The visit was part of his ongoing commitment to community outreach with the purpose of showing what the Buffalo District can do to help positively impact local villages, towns and cities within its footprint.
  • Stone rip rap placed along the Lake Erie shoreline of the Hospice of Western Reserve, Cleveland, OH under the Corps of Engineers Continuing Authorities Program, Section 14 for stream bank and shoreline erosion protection of public works and non-profit public services.

    USACE looks to highlight long term assistance programs

    Local, county and state officials can request long term assistance measures through the Continuing Authorities Program (CAP), Planning Assistance to States and through the Interagency and International Services Program. Each program offers many partnership opportunities on flood risk mitigation, shoreline protection, preparing plans to manage water and related land resources, and relief and recovery work to name a few examples.

  • May

    Facing west, the location is Lake Ontario shoreline, just west of the Olcott Harbor West Pier. Gabions were installed as part of Operation Foresight around 1973 or 1974. Photo was taken on Sept. 10, 2007.

    Lake Ontario flooding in 2017 reminds communities of Corps of Engineers assistance provided in 1973

    Lake Ontario water levels are the highest they’ve been since the last record high in 1973 and nearly three feet higher than the average 246 feet, causing widespread flooding and erosion across the shoreline.
  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Buffalo District Commander Adam Czekanski met with the Mayor of Sodus, New York Chris Tertinek (both centered) and local emergency management officials to discuss Army Corps of Engineers flood supplemental support efforts. They also toured areas affected by high Lake Ontario water in Sodus, New York.

    USACE responds to Lake Ontario flooding

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Buffalo District, technical field teams have visited 13 Lake Ontario coast sites in response to emergency flood efforts. New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo formally requested Corps of Engineers assistance on May 9 and initiated additional interagency coordination to supplement the state’s emergency response to record water levels.

  • March

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District employee Dave Mitchell (left) and Fort Drum employee Scott Siegfried (right) on site at Airfield Creek, as part of the effort to develop conceptual designs aimed to reduce erosion that poses possible risk of future flood events on the base at Fort Drum.

    U.S. Army Corps of Engineers still supporting U.S. Army missions after 200 years

    The Buffalo District recently assisted the U.S. Army on a project at Fort Drum, New York. The effort is one example of how the Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Army have worked in tandem for over 200 years. The Buffalo District is introducing its “IIS Blueprint”, which is an interactive tool agencies can use to navigate their way through the many services the Buffalo District offers.
  • Dr. Patricia Hutton, founder of the Sew Refugee Economic Development Initiative (REDI) address USACE Buffalo District staff during Women’s History Month.

    Sew REDI to recognize Women’s History Month

    March is National Women’s History Month and this year, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District was fortunate to host Dr. Patricia Hutton, the founder of the Sew Refugee Economic Development Initiative (REDI), Buffalo, NY for a lunch and learn program. The mission of Sew REDI Buffalo is to use the medium of sewing to provide social inclusion, education and economic empowerment to members of Buffalo's refugee community.
  • Diver Shanon Chader talks about the Buffalo District Dive Team with some visitors at the Buffalo Museum of Science.

    National Engineer’s Week at Buffalo District inspires kids and adults to learn something new

    The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Buffalo District celebrated National Engineer’s Week from February 19-25. The celebration began by the District hosting a number of students from local high schools for a shadow day. A few teams of employees did demonstrations at the Buffalo Museum of Science. Five professional development hour (PDH) courses were held, and two off-site lectures were given by District employees. Throughout the week, social engagements like a ski day and a basketball game kept the momentum of the celebration going.