Trinity River Wetlands restored in Dallas

As part of the Dallas Floodway Extension, Fort Worth District and the city of Dallas are using an innovative approach to return floodplain value to the Trinity River, while improving flood damage reduction.

To improve and restore wetland habitat within the boundaries of overbank flood-management swales and within south Dallas, the district will build seven wetland cells.

Native plant establishment in both temporary and permanently flooded zones were built into each wetland cell with the help of the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Lewisville Aquatic Ecosystem Research Facility (LAERF) in Lewisville, Texas. The LAERF has participated in development of numerous strategies for both managing nuisance aquatic plants and establishing desirable native plants in Corps systems, with emphasis on habitat enhancement. Constructed cells will hold normal pools at a maximum 7 foot depth with native grassland buffers about twice the area of each cell. The district is planting native aquatic plants in zones where the water level can be managed — 1 to 3 feet deep. This provides ideal depths for initial plantings and growth. Once plant colonies begin growing at these depths, implementing moist soil management practices will increase plant community diversity and overall productivity of the system.

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Trinity River Project Central City, Fort Worth, Texas - Final Environmental Impact Statement

The Central City study area is located at the confluence of the Clear Fork and West Fork of the Trinity River in the heart of Fort Worth in Tarrant County, Texas (Figures 1 - 1 and 1 - 2). The Central City study area is bounded generally by the Fort Worth Stockyards to the North, University Drive to the West, I-30 to the South, and Sylvania Avenue to the East (Figure 1 - 3).

The Central City Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) documents existing conditions in the study area, identifies problems and opportunities in the study area, describes the array of alternative solutions designed to address the problems and opportunities, and compares those alternatives to the No Action Alternative. A preferred plan is identified along with identification of aspects of that plan that could be undertaken by the Corps of Engineers. The EIS also identifies and addresses, to the extent possible, the actions of others that may be connected to or stem from a project within the Central City Study Area. Within the framework of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), this document is tiered from the Upper Trinity River Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement dated June 2000.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate potential modifications to the existing system of levees and channels that would enhance existing levels of flood protection, restore components of the natural riverine system that were sacrificed in the construction of the existing flood control system, facilitate urban revitalization, and provide major quality-of-life enhancements (ecosystem improvements and recreation) for citizens of the region.

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Fort Bliss Modular Force

This program is required by the Army’s initiatives under the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC), the Integrated Global Presence and Basing Strategy (IGPBS), and the Army Modular Force (AMF) program, although the projects may be required from any Military Program. The Army must posture facilities to effectively orient combat capabilities where they can most effectively organize, train, and deploy to support ongoing operations worldwide.

The execution of the work under the Military Construction Program will be accomplished using a “product line concept” for the facilities. The “product line concept” will be used for the construction of barracks, dining facilities, company operation facilities, headquarters buildings, vehicle maintenance shops, unit and ammunition storage facilities, aviation facilities, equipment parking areas, and other features of the program. Under the product line concept, Districts in the Corps of Engineers’ Southwestern and South Pacific Divisions will be assigned one or two facility types and will be responsible for awarding Design-Build IDIQ contracts for their assigned type of facility (product line). When there is a requirement for their facility type, each District product line team will scope, negotiate, and award a task order to deliver the required facilities to the Program Office assigned to manage the overall project.

More information is available at the Fort Bliss Modular Force website.

Civil Works top brass visit District projects in San Antonio

John Paul Woodley, Jr., Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works) and Maj. Gen. Don T. Riley, Director of Civil Works, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, were in San Antonio, Texas Sept. 7 for an unveiling ceremony of a portion of the San Antonio River Improvements Project and to tour Fort Worth District projects on Fort Sam Houston.

The San Antonio River Improvements Project is a $198 million ongoing investment by the City of San Antonio, Bexar County, the Corps of Engineers and the San Antonio River Foundation in flood damage reduction, amenity, ecosystem restoration and recreational improvements along 13 miles of the San Antonio River.

"Restoration of the San Antonio River is a project that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been anticipating for a while and is eager to get construction underway," said Woodley. "Through the use of improved, more environmentally acceptable engineering practices, this project will maintain the flood protection provided today by the river, while recreating a sustainable river ecosystem."

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