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  • March

    Permit proffered for Henry County's Commonwealth Crossing Business Center

    Regulators with the Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers here forwarded an initial proffered permit to Henry County Industrial Development Authority officials today, crossing an important milestone in the federal permitting process for the proposed Commonwealth Crossing Business Center in Henry County, Va.
  • On Feb. 27, the North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources closed the Great Dismal Swamp Canal pedestrian bridge, which crosses onto the Dismal Swamp Canal between North Carolina and Virginia, to allow their maintenance crew to repair cylinders in a hydraulic arm weld, which had broken from the bridge’s bascule.

    Great Dismal Swamp Canal pedestrian bridge reopens

    SOUTH MILLS, N.C. – The Great Dismal Swamp Canal pedestrian bridge reopened at 5 p.m., March 19, after a two-week closure to repair cylinders in a hydraulic arm weld, which had broken from the bridge’s bascule.

  • February

    Historic Fort Norfolk, Va.

    Historic Fort Norfolk to close for building repairs Feb. 24

    Fort Norfolk will close to visitors from Feb. 24 to June 6 as contractors replace the roof on a circa 1855 magazine building.
  • The Great Bridge Lock on the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal reopened today after a two-day closure to vessel traffic. Contractors, overseen by the Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, removed and replaced a 72-ton set of aging lock gates as part of a service plan to increase the lifespan of the locks.

    Great Bridge Lock reopens to vessel traffic

    The Great Bridge Lock on the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal reopened this afternoon after a two-day closure to vessel traffic to replace lock gates.

  • January

    Cutter-head dredge Wilko was used to maintenance dredge the Lynnhaven Inlet Federal Navigation Channel, Virginia Beach, Va.

    Corps completes Lynnhaven Inlet dredging; shoaling removed, community beaches renourished

    The Lynnhaven Inlet Federal Navigation Channel is fully navigable, after a $2 million maintenance dredging project removed critical shoaling conditions exacerbated by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

  • Norfolk District is open for normal operations Thursday, Jan. 30. Liberal leave and telework are authorized.

    NORFOLK, Va -- The Norfolk District will be open for normal operations Thursday, Jan. 30. Liberal leave and telework are authorized. Telework should be coordinated and approved by your supervisor.

  • October

    Col. Paul Brooks, Fort Lee garrison commander, presents the 2012 Directorate of Public Works Installation Support Program of the Year Award to Col. Paul B. Olsen, district commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk District, as Greg Williams, DPW director, looks on. (U.S. Army photo)

    Norfolk District snags installation support award

    U.S. Army Installation Management Command awarded the Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with the 2012 Director of Public Works Installation Support Program of the Year. The nomination noted Norfolk District’s “team approach in delighting the ultimate customer – the soldier.”
  • Jennifer Armstrong (right), a Norfolk District project manager, shows Jo-Ellen Darcy, the assistant secretary of the Army for civil works, fossilized oyster shell stored at the district's Craney Island Dredge Material Management Area in Portsmouth, Va. The shell is destined to be used in Corps sanctuary oyster reefs in the Elizabeth River as part of the Craney Island Eastward Expansion project environmental mitigation plan. The mountainous piles of shell were obtained from the Commonwealth of Virginia through an agreement between the Norfolk District and the Virginia Marine Resources Commission. (U.S. Army photo/Patrick Bloodgood)

    Going big: district tackles oysters, Lynnhaven

    Contractors for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are moving mountains of fossil oyster shell from Craney Island in Portsmouth, Va., to build 16 acres of sanctuary reefs in Elizabeth River and some of its tributaries, while the work to bring environmental restoration on the Lynnhaven River is ongoing.

  • Great Bridge Locks reopen as tidal waters recede

    The Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has reopened the great bridge lock in Chesapeake, Va.

  • September

    The Corps Dredge Currituck performs dredging operations in Virginia Beach's Rudee Inlet in 2005. The Currituck is a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers hopper dredge that performs maintenance dredging up and down the East Coast. (U.S. Army Photo/Patrick Bloodgood)

    Currituck rescues stranded boater from James River

    The crew found a man, soaked and shivering in the 64-degree night.

  • July

    The national wetland plant list received its first update since going web based in 2012. The list features 7937 plant species, which is a reduction of 263 species from 2012. (U.S. Army image)

    Agencies prune plant list

    When the national wetland plant list was initially rolled out to the web in May 2012 the Corp’s Regulatory Office said there would be periodic changes. Earlier this month those periodic changes became a reality.

  • June

    SANDBRIDGE, Va. -- The Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, partnering with the city of Virginia Beach, Va., began a five-mile hurricane protection and beach renourishment project in Sandbridge in mid-April, 2013. The $13.35 million non-federal project included the dredging and placement of approximately 2 million cubic yards of sand along public beachfront from Back Bay National Wildlife Refuge to the Dam Neck Naval facility.

    2-plus million cubic yards added to Sandbridge beachfront; Big Beach completion now under way

    VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. -- A five-mile hurricane protection and beach renourishment project in Sandbridge is complete.
  • NORFOLK -- Michelle Hamor is the 2013 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers flood risk manager of the year. The Corps gives the award yearly to individuals who excel in the field of flood plain management, which plans for and identifies ways at controlling and reducing flood damages experienced by citizens living in flood plains. (U.S. Army photo/Patrick Bloodgood)

    Flood plain manager flooded with praise

    Michelle Hamor, chief of Norfolk District’s flood plain management section, is the 2013 recipient of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Flood Risk Manager of the Year Award. The Corps gives the award yearly to individuals who excel in the field of flood plain management, which plans for and identifies ways at controlling and reducing flood damages experienced by citizens living in flood plains.

  • April

    Lance Cpl. Joseph Marshall, a squad automatic weapon gunner with Fox Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marine Regiment, waits for the sun to rise in Southern Marjah District, Helmand province, Afghanistan, March 23, the first day of Operation Watchtower. Marshall is from Glenallen, Alaska.

    Engineering a difference

    Thumbing through the pages of his chartreuse logbook where he writes down thoughts, project plans and drawings, Capt. Antonio Pazos stops to point out a particular drawing. It’s a rough sketch diagram of how the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and federal and state engineers designed a dewatering plan to remove 400 million gallons of water from the Brooklyn Battery and Queens tunnels after Hurricane Sandy slammed into the East Coast Oct.29, 2012.

  • March

    The hopper dredge B. E. Lindholm from Weeks Marine Inc., was called in to dredge when hazardous shoaling in the Thimble Shoals federal navigation channel was discovered and one side of the navigation lane was closed.

    Corps responds to emergency dredging in Thimble Shoals federal channel

    NORFOLK – Hazardous shoaling in the Thimble Shoals federal navigation channel launched action between local and federal agencies as they raced to reopen a closed navigation lane. The Virginia Pilots Association alerted the Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, of the hazard on March 13, and within hours, a survey team was mobilized.
  • Erin Juergens, a logistics management specialist with the Norfolk district, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was doing what she did best just before boarding a plane from Virginia to South Bridge, Mass.: last-minute packing. Juergens was one of two Corps employees and 144 civilian participants from all branches of the military attending the 2013 course. Approximately 600 people applied.

    Leading lady: Classic character, modern methods

    Juergens, a logistics management specialist with the Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was doing what she did best just before boarding a plane from Virginia to South Bridge, Mass.: last-minute packing.

  • December

    TANGIER ISLAND, Va. -- From left, Congressman Scott Rigell, Gov. Bob McDonnell and Tangier's mayor, James "Ooker" Eskridge, look on as Col. Paul Olsen, Norfolk District commander, signs a proclamation Nov. 20, 2012. The governor and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers recently announced plans to build a long-awaited jetty to protect the island's endangered harbor. With the Corps' agreement several weeks ago to commit federal funds, a cost-sharing agreement with the Commonwealth was signed and the project approved for study, design and construction. (U.S. Army photo/Kerry Solan)

    Survey crews to start work on Tangier Jetty

    Physical work on the feasibility phase of the Tangier Jetty program is set to begin this week, weather dependant. A Norfolk District survey crew will operate in the water where the jetty is to be built at the federal navigation channel entranceway on the western side of the island.

  • November

    CAPE CHARLES, Va. -- Stakeholders work in breakout sessions with Norfolk District employees Oct. 12, 2012. The town wants to deepen their 18-foot navigation channel and approached the Norfolk District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for help.

    Town's need for deeper channel illustrates funding process

    The color-coded depth maps of the navigation channel lined each the top of table – each map in front of a stakeholder who wanted the same thing as the person in the next seat. The Corps of Engineers map wasn’t necessary for Chad Saunders. He knew the depths. And he knew what was needed. “My company needs more ... The town of Cape Charles needs more.”

  • October

    Waterfield Building closed Oct. 29

    Due to local weather and travel conditions, the Waterfield building is closed Monday, Oct. 29. Administrative leave is authorized for employees who work in the Waterfield building. Employees who work at area military installations should follow the instructions of the garrison commander. Employees who work from field or home offices throughout the Commonwealth should work as conditions allow.
  • CHESAPEAKE, Va. -- Norfolk District regulators Dave Knepper and Audrey Cotnoir compare notes during a wetland delineation, which is the process of determining the boundary between wetlands and uplands (or non-wetlands) through examination of vegetation, soils and hydrology. The District's 52-person regulatory staff processes more than 3,000 federal permit requests a year and covers all of the Com.onwealth's 42,767 square miles. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Regulatory Program gets its federal permitting authority from three sources: the Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act of 1899 (the oldest federal environmental law in the United States), the Federal Water Pollution Control Act (often referred to as the "Clean Water Act") and the 1972 Marine Protection, Research and Sanctuaries Act. U.S. Army photo/Mark W. Haviland.

    Regulators focused on mission as Clean Water Act turns 40

    The Clean Water Act turns 40 today and, though opponents and supporters still debate the scope and effectiveness of the landmark legislation, employees of the regulatory branch here have a clear understanding of their mission. “It’s about being consistent and operating within the scope of our authorities,” said Col. Paul Olsen, Norfolk District commander. “It’s about balancing the nation’s passion to build with the needs of the environment.”