Flood Barrier USA

The United States Army Corps of Engineers: Flood Protection Specialists

Author: Donna Conneely

The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) got its start in the year 1775, at which time it was comprised of one Chief Engineer and two assistants. In 1779 Congress officially created a separate Corps of Engineers, whose first task was to design and fortify defenses at Bunker Hill. Today the Army Corps of Engineers has a work force of over 38,000 army and civilian members, and is frequently associated with flood protection and water management projects.

The USACE began its involvement with flood protection projects in the mid-1800’s when it was asked to ameliorate flooding along the Mississippi river. This river drains over 40% of the contiguous states, as well as two Canadian provinces, and has produced some of the biggest floods on the planet. The mighty river has been the source of invaluable economic contributions — as well as death and destruction on a massive scale. The perennial struggle to control this waterway continues to this day.

In 1928, the USACE began an enormous undertaking: the Mississippi River and Tributaries Flood Control Project. This project was born of the calamitous floods of 1927, which saw water levels that exceeded 56 feet — a record that stands to this day. During this flood, the Mississippi River was 60 miles wide in some places. The devastation and loss of life was unfathomable. In order to prevent a repeat of this disaster, the USACE built levees, improved flood channels, and designed a grand plan to direct flood-waters in a controlled manner. Upon the successful completion of these projects, Congress passed the Flood Control Act of 1936, giving the USACE a mandate to provide flood protection services to the entire United States.

In addition to glowing successes, the USACE has also been responsible for some spectacular failures, perhaps most notably demonstrated in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina slammed into the Gulf states. In 2009 a federal judge ruled that the USACE had displayed “gross negligence” in its failure to maintain flood channels, an oversight that resulted in the infamous flooding of New Orleans, which was 80% submerged. The judge accused the USACE of “insouciance, myopia and shortsightedness” in failing to maintain the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, which in turn led to the failure of crucial levees.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 26th, 2011 at 9:31 pm and is filed under Flood Protection. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.