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  • June

    Side-by-side photos of Libby Dam Natural Resource Manager Tana Wilson and her paternal grandfather Donald “Whitey” Wilson, who joined the Operating Engineers Union in 1967 at 29 years old, and was hired by Morrison-Knudsen as a batch plant operator during the construction of Libby Dam. The dam was constructed in response to annual spring floods that cascaded down from the Rocky Mountains which caused fatalities and destruction to communities in the U.S. and Canada located along the length of the Kootenai and Columbia River watersheds. (Photo courtesy Tana Wilson)

    From Construction to Conservation: One Family’s Legacy of Service at Libby Dam

    As part of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District's commemoration of 50 years of operations at Libby Dam, Montana, Natural Resource Manager Tana Wilson shares her family's legacy of service from construction to conservation, today.
  • Interior of the containment shelter that houses Gate 3 after its return to Albeni Falls Dam, Oldtown, Idaho, May 12, 2025. The gate is currently being outfitted with strain gauges and temperature probes that will help monitor the condition of the gate and repair. Gate 3 is projected to return to service in August 2025.

    From delamination to durability: How Fiber-Reinforced Polymer is fortifying Albeni Falls Dam's Gate 3

    Discovered in April 2024 during routine maintenance, Gate 3, one of Albeni Falls Dam’s 10 spillway gates revealed defective steel, likely a consequence of the original 1950s fabrication process. While a long-term plan for complete gate replacement is underway, the immediate need was for a robust, interim solution to bring Gate 3 back into service and restore the dam's full operational flexibility. Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) offers a technically superior Band-Aid, providing significant structural enhancement, a glimpse into the future of dam maintenance and a testament to modern engineering ingenuity.

  • May

    Map illustration of USACE-owned and managed dams in Seattle District. The district’s inventory of dams has multiple purposes including flood risk management, hydropower, navigation, water supply, river flow augmentation for fish, fish passage and recreation.

    Holding Back the Flow: Seattle District's Dam Safety Program

    “One might think that in 21st century America, we’ve put an end to dam failures, but that’s not true,” said Seattle District’s Dam Safety Program Manager Richard Smith. “Dams continue to fail for numerous reasons and all too often with disastrous consequences. Lives are still being lost, and it’s our responsibility as good dam stewards to ensure our dams do not fail."