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  • November

    Photo of USACE Seattle District employees and City of Yakima employees participating in flood response training exercises in Yakima, Washington

    Army Corps, Yakima conduct flood response training

    COVID-19 may have put a damper on how training and meetings are conducted, but Seattle District flood team managers learn to adapt, overcome and even improve on this year’s spring flood exercises.

  • September

    Photo of Col. Alexander “Xander” L. Bullock commander of the Seattle District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in military uniform, giving his opening remarks at the ribbon cutting ceremony Aug. 16, 2021.

    USACE Seattle District Praises Community Partners as Ballard Locks Fish Ladder Viewing Room Re-opens

    To commemorate the recent renovation of its fish ladder viewing room, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Seattle District held a ribbon cutting ceremony, Aug. 16, 2021, at Lake Washington Ship Canal and Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, known locally as the ‘Ballard Locks’ or ‘Locks.’

  • December

    A McChord C-17 Globemaster III flies over the newly constructed airfield bridge to reopen the full runway at McChord Field at about 10 a.m. Dec. 22. (Photo Credit: Joe Piek, JBLM Public Affairs)

    New bridge restores full McChord airfield capabilities

    A McChord C-17 Globemaster III took off Dec. 22 over the new underground bridge to commemorate the reopening of the McChord Field runway to its full, 10,100-foot operational length. This follows the 11-month closure of almost half of the runway due to two failing culverts under the runway, taxiway and infield.

  • October

    Crews deploy an oil spill skimmer while participating in an exercise as part of the Northwest Oil Spill Control Course. As part of an international cooperation to prepare for a hazardous spill response on Puget Sound, Seattle District participated in the Northwest Oil Spill Control Course hosted by the United States Coast Guard, District 13 August 26-30. (USACE photo by Brad Schultz)

    District participates in Northwest Oil Spill Control Course

    As part of an international cooperation to prepare for a hazardous spill response on Puget Sound, Seattle District participated in the Northwest Oil Spill Control Course hosted by the United States Coast Guard, District 13 August 26-30. Other participants included National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Washington Department of Ecology, BNSF, ExxonMobil and the Western Canada Marine Response Corporation.
  • Construction of shoreline protection progresses December 15, 2018.

    Protecting cultural site, minimizing impacts

    When erosion threatened a National Register-eligible archaeological site on Idaho’s Pend Oreille River, a Seattle District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ team went the distance to stabilize the bank and minimize construction impacts to adjacent wetland habitat.

  • January

    Rhonda Lucas and Ranger Katie McGillvray program bat monitoring equipment to record bat calls at Lake Washington Ship Canal.

    District conducts bat surveys as white-nose syndrome moves westward

    Working against time and the inevitable spread of a disease threatening bat populations across the country, Seattle District personnel are conducting wildlife surveys to determine which species live on Corps lands and if they are healthy.

  • December

    Contractors record and pack soil samples for testing.

    Bioremediation: Enlisting bacteria to battle contaminants

    "While most people don’t think of the Corps as leaders in groundwater remediation, our recent cutting edge successes at the Umatilla Chemical Depot and Naval Base Kitsap are starting to change that." --Mandy Michalsen, senior scientist for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle Disctrict, and technical lead for the bioremediation project

  • November

    Sponsors for two Seattle District-led Puget Sound and Adjacent Waters Restoration Program projects recently held ground breaking ceremonies honoring the start of their ecosystem restoration projects.

    Building Sound Priorities

    Sponsors for two Seattle District-led Puget Sound and Adjacent Waters Restoration Program projects
  • Rick Petersen, Michael Suh, Allison Bruner, David Nishimura, Sgt. 1st Class Michael Bamba, and Maj. Toby Flinn of the 34th Engineer Detachment, FEST-A, cased its colors on Sept. 28 as the last step of their preparation for deployment to Afghanistan.

    Fest-A Moves Out

    On Sept. 28 the 34th Engineer Detachment, Forward Engineer Support Team (Advance), cased its colors
  • Patricia Fatherree, front left, stands next to Ann Horrell, who cuts the ribbon on the Madigan-South Sound Community Medical Center. The $740,000 clinic, located in Olympia, Wash., will be able to serve up to 8,200 patients.

    In the nick of time

    It was down to the wire. On the Friday before the end of Fiscal Year 2012 Patricia Fatherree, U.S.
  • Mark Ohlstrom has lived by the words respect, integrity and professionalism since his U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District, career began 35 years ago. Those words on his office white board were erased when he retired on Nov. 1, but they will remain with those he worked with through the decades.

    Mark of Excellence

    For the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District, Engineer Division chief, the words respect,
  • The district’s second player, Anne Holdener, is in her rookie season. Holdener, a budget analyst for Mud Mountain and Howard Hanson Dams, goes by the derby name Holdener Hosstage. Donning number 33, she played in her first career bout in April with her team, the Rainier Roller Girls, losing a last second, back-and-forth battle to the Grunge City Rollers.

    Cruisin' for a bruisin'

    For some, extracurricular activities are traditional sports like bicycling, running, basketball,

  • September

    The Fort Lewis Main Post Chapel was open to the public Nov. 9, 1934 and has fulfilled many needs since then. But it needed some upgrades to bring it into the 21st Century. Seattle District answered the call and made structural improvements to help attendees with mobility issues and added some communications upgrades while preserving the building’s charm and history. The $5.5 million renovation also included some life safety and comfort additions such as air conditioning and a fire alarm and sprinkler system.

    Restoring the Soul of Fort Lewis

    For almost 80 years, colorful stained glass, towering wooden columns and shining organ pipes have

  • August

    A number of free educational activities take place throughout the year at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District, operating projects including Chief Joseph Dam, Wash.; Libby Dam, Montana; Albeni Falls Dam, Idaho; Mud Mountain Dam, Wash.; and Hiram M. Chittenden Locks, Wash. For more information about what programs are available and when, go to http://www.nws.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/LocksandDams.aspx.

    Teaching today for a better tomorrow

    Though the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District, operates a number of locks and dams for

  • May

    Engineer Leah Wickstrom, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District, works in a reserved environment full of engineers and scientists by day, but by night -- it’s dress rehearsals, dazzling costumes, opening nights and her name in lights.

    Balancing Act

    Living a double life is typically considered scandalous, often full of tabloid headlines and

  • April

    A local shellfish grower at Stratford-Meyer Geoduck Farm offers Corps regulators a tour of the geoduck farm near Vaughn, Wash. Recently, all the state’s shellfish farms simultaneously needed to submit preconstruction notices, which the Seattle District would need to review and use to make permit decisions.

    Regulatory survives tidal wave of permit actions

    With an annual value of more than $107 million, Washington leads the country in farmed shellfish

  • March

    The newly aligned and constructed channel for Tributary Creek is a work in progress. The area in the center is roughly where the old mill foundation was located as compared with the historic photo taken circa 1933.

    Cleaning up Jack Waite Mine

    Out of sight isn’t always out of mind, much like contamination from decades of mining in the Coeur
  • The Lewis Army Museum at Joint Base Lewis-McChord has been known by many names and served many functions. It’s been a hotel, refuge for families visiting hospitalized Soldiers and an officer’s club. Now it’s a museum and a state-of-the-art training facility. It underwent extensive renovation to meet current safety codes, but still retains the historic features as required by being listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Though many artifacts can be viewed here today, the building itself is also an exhibit.

    Building a strong foundation

    Originally it was a Salvation Army Inn with 155 rooms. During World War I, this Salvation Army war

  • February

    An artist’s rendering depicts a bird’s eye view of the West Compound, which houses most administrative, housing and personnel support facilities.

    Joint Base Lewis-McChord builds to plan for special forces

    Facilities can’t be built fast enough to accommodate the rapidly growing 1st Special Forces Group at
  • Washington's Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s Jackson Avenue Barracks are a garden-style one-plus-one design, which encourages residents to interact with one another. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District, architects won the 2008 Chief of Engineers Design and Environmental Honor and USACE Design Team of the Year awards for the concept.

    JBLM barracks design improves Soldier quality of life

    Architects from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District, considered more than bricks and