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Kansas City District News Stories

  • March

    Kansas City District Administrative Assistant Lolita Law (middle right) with her family in August 2014, taken two years before Michael’s cancer diagnosis.

    Building a better you: Lolita Law, Kansas City District Administrative Assistant

    Kansas City District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Administrative Assistant Lolita Law has been through her fair share of challenges. She believes those challenges shaped her into the mother, wife, professional and woman she is today. “I’ve had a lot of things happen to me that probably could have stopped me from getting where I am today, but I surrounded myself with people who could show me that there is another way,” Law said. As part of Women’s History Month 2022, the Kansas City District is telling unique stories about female team members who have made a name for themselves and continue to make a difference in the world.
  • Kansas City District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Civil Engineer Susan Abbott inspects displaced riprap around the Rathbun Dam stilling basin during the Rathbun annual dam safety inspection in Aug. 2020 at Rathbun Lake, Iowa.

    It is never too late: Susan Abbott, Kansas City District Civil Engineer

    “I was a tomboy growing up. I took every science course our schools had, and I just loved them—learning about how things worked and why,” Kansas City District Civil Engineer Susan Abbott said. Abbott has been with the Kansas City District, U.S. Corps of Engineers for just under 19 years, and her life story is anything but ordinary. As part of Women’s History Month 2022, the Kansas City District is telling unique stories about female team members who have made a name for themselves and continue to make a difference in the world.

  • January

    New campsites in the Ruark Bluff East Campground line a road at Stockton Lake near Stockton, Mo. The updated campsites are a result of supplemental funding received for damages during the 2019 flood event.

    Stockton and Pomme de Terre use 2019 flood supplemental funding to improve recreation sites

    Pomme de Terre Lake received $85,000 and Stockton Lake received $2.1 million in supplemental funding to repair recreation areas damaged in the 2019 flood event that impacted areas along the Missouri River within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District. The Stockton Lake Project Office used $1.6 million of the $2.1 million to update and relocate 28 damaged campsites at Ruark Bluff East and Orleans Trail campgrounds.

  • December

    Northwestern Division Commander Col. Geoff Van Epps and Kansas City District Commander Col. Travis Rayfield sign the last piece of structural steel for the General Leonard Wood Community Hospital Project before a Topping Out Ceremony at Fort Leonard Wood on Dec. 7, 2021.

    Fort Leonard Wood Hospital Replacement Project marks a big milestone with “Topping Out” ceremony

    Leaders from Fort Leonard Wood and the national, regional and state representatives present, signed the “last beam” which will be installed in its place atop the structure after the event for safety purposes. The construction team lighted an evergreen tree on the top of the structure during the ceremony to represent that milestone in the construction of the building. This “topping out” signals the move ahead to further construction progress on the hospital.

  • November

    Painting titled “River Spirits” by Lance Foster. Foster’s tribe has been linked to the Missouri River for thousands of years. This painting represents his connection to the river through a spiritual man praying to the spirits of the river for life while rain and red-forked lightning rolls in the background. Foster’s people believe everything in nature is alive and can be communicated with, and they will continue to exist together if we all take care of each other and the world.

    History Runs Deep: partnering to support and celebrate American Indian heritage

    Over 165,000 square miles of land makes up the Kansas City District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and they are rich with American Indian ancestry. We are highlighting this bountiful history to celebrate American Indian Heritage Month and the important part tribes play in the success of the Kansas City District. The Kansas City District has four federally recognized tribes located within its area of responsibility: the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska, Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation and the Kickapoo Tribe in Kansas.
  • For the 31st year, USACE Smithville Lake has hosted yet another successful managed deer hunt for mobility impaired individuals.

    Smithville Lake continues successful tradition for mobility impaired hunters

    Before daylight broke Saturday morning, nearly 100 outdoor enthusiasts mingled over a hot breakfast served in an open barn by local volunteers, while discussing their hopes for the weekend. For most, it’s the weekend of a lifetime, one they anxiously look forward to every year. That morning 49 hunters, each armed with a volunteer, were able to escape everything but nature at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Smithville Lake for the world’s largest known managed deer hunt for mobility impaired individuals. Throughout this two-day event, they are provided with 65 different locations, each set up with a hunting blind, camouflaged from the wildlife and allowing protection from the elements.

  • October

    Kansas City District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers National Local Government Liaison and Engineering Technician Derek Wansing (right) shares Operation Blue Roof flyers with contracting lead Ramon Nieto in support of the Hurricane Ida disaster relief mission in Louisiana on Sept. 28, 2021.

    Volunteering it Forward: Kansas City District all-volunteer disaster relief force makes a difference across the U.S.

    In the span of a year, the Kansas City District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had 25 of their employees actively work on deployments to disaster relief missions across the U.S. Kansas City District employees participated in four Emergency Support Function-3 missions—the Oregon wildfires, Tennessee high water event, Hurricane Henri and Hurricane Ida. Disaster relief missions that happen outside the Kansas City District and require additional help fall under ESF-3, which requires USACE’s support through volunteer deployments.
  • A Soldier from the 249th Engineer Battalion, Prime Power, competes in the Apprentice Pole Climb Obstacle Course during the International Lineman's Rodeo alongside industry professionals at the National Agricultural Center and Hall of Fame in Bonner Springs, Kan., on Oct. 16, 2021. The event tests the Lineman’s ability to perform the required task within a set time period.

    Versatility of Prime Power: 249th Engineer Battalion makes showing at 37th Annual International Lineman’s Rodeo

    Soldiers from the 249th Engineer Battalion, Prime Power, combined their military and professional skills to compete in the 37th International Lineman’s Rodeo at the National Agricultural Center and Hall of Fame in Bonner Springs, Kan., on Oct. 16, 2021. Teams and apprentices from all five companies within the battalion registered to compete: three active companies, Alpha Company, Bravo Company, Charlie Company and Higher Headquarters Company, and the battalion’s reservists, Delta Company.
  • Contractors work on constructing the steel structure forming the main portion of the new hospital on the left, while the current General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital sits farther back to the right at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., on Sept. 1, 2021. The current hospital will be demolished after construction is finished, and the area will turn into extra parking for patients and staff.

    Replacement hospital for Fort Leonard Wood has used innovative collaborative processes to stay on schedule

    The replacement hospital being built at Fort Leonard Wood continues steady progress on schedule for completion in 2024. The Kansas City District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has oversight on the project with JE Dunn Construction, based in Kansas City, providing the construction and RLF Architects of Orlando, Florida, as the architects, teamed up for the design/build project. Located on 52 acres in the heart of the Army post, the new hospital is near the current General Leonard Wood Army Community Hospital. The new state-of-the-art facility will include a 235,400 square-foot hospital, a clinic with over 193,000 square-feet, a modern central facility plant, emergency back-up generators, a new helipad, a five-bay ambulance garage and supporting facilities. The current value of the contract is just over $302 million.
  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District, River Engineer Gladys Figueroa Toro celebrates her graduation from Texas Tech with a master's degree in Water Resources and emphasis in Geographic Information Systems in 2018.

    “Puerto Rican and Proud” - Celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month

    At just 16 years old, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District, River Engineer Gladys Figueroa Toro graduated from high school and entered the most challenging and formative period of her life—college. As the Kansas City District celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month, we sat down with Figueroa Toro and heard her story, starting from when she attended the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez in her home country.