17 May 2024

The Kansas City District’s Regulatory Program: a balance between the environment, development and public interest

Ever wonder what the Regulatory Branch does? We asked several program and project managers and David Hibbs, chief, regulatory program branch, to tell us about the work they do; they do a lot that you might not know about.

10 May 2024

National Levee Database, the resource you may not know you need

Levee – is it dry? Is it going to break? Perhaps you’ve heard them mentioned in 1970s songs or on the news. We’ve heard the term, but what is a levee? Where are they? What do they do? Well – a levee is a human-made barrier designed to reduce the frequency of flooding to a portion of a floodplain. In fact, there are more than 6,811 total levee systems covering 24,000 miles throughout the United States with a property value of $2 trillion 23 million people behind them. The National Levee Database has all this information – and more!

9 May 2024

Striking a chord: District review appraiser and musician on being part of something bigger than himself

The success of an organization often depends on having an effective support staff. An organization with a mission set as large and varied as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers requires many support offices and positions. Among these many critical support positions at the Kansas City District is David Capell, district review appraiser. A team of one, Capell is the Kansas City District’s sole review appraiser responsible for appraising and reviewing appraisals of all district property. If it sounds like an important job, that’s because it is. With an area of responsibility spanning five states, the Kansas City District has a robust civil works and military mission, which require a lot of real estate. Before a project can be completed, there is almost always some sort of real estate action and many of these actions require an appraisal or review of one.

8 May 2024

Growing the next generation: Safety and occupational health professionals gather for annual conference

Springtime in the Midwest can be volatile as temperatures fluctuate and severe weather is common. This time of year often prompts safety drills across the region. Perhaps it was not a coincidence then that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Safety and Occupational Health Program’s community of practice gathered in the heartland — Kansas City, Missouri — for their annual community of practice meeting. The theme of this year’s meeting was “growing the next generation.” Safety and occupational health professionals from across the USACE enterprise came to Kansas City, Missouri, to discuss all things safety and occupational health. The five-day community of practice meeting was a chance for staff from all districts, divisions and headquarters to convene in one location and discuss current operations and the future of the program in USACE.

7 May 2024

‘Rooted in trust and respect’: Kansas Citys Levees team continues to deliver on commitment to Kansas City metro area

Engineering, construction, planning, design — these are hard sciences, which require a systemic, methodical approach. While these sciences are by no means easy, they are easy to quantify. More challenging to quantify are the soft sciences — communication, trust, respect, partnership. Building structures is a science; building partnerships is an art. It might not always be obvious, but both are often required for a successful construction project. For the Kansas Citys Levees project team at the Kansas City District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the art of building and maintaining a culture of partnership and collaboration has proved to be just as critical for success as the design and construction of the project have been. The $529 million project, which aims to improve the reliability and resiliency of 17 miles of existing levees in the Kansas City metro area, is unlike any other in the heartland.