The Philadelphia District was established in 1866, but the Corps’ local legacy dates back to Revolutionary times, when Army Engineers planned the encampment and defense of General Washington’s colonial Army at Valley Forge. Then in 1829 the Corps embarked on its first civil works project in this region — a 1,300-foot-long stone breakwater near Cape Henlopen, Delaware, that provided refuge from storms to the hundreds of ships entering and leaving the Delaware Bay.
In 1919 the federal government purchased the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal to be operated and maintained—and later expanded—by the Philadelphia District. Converted to a free-flowing waterway, the C&D today handles a significant portion of the Port of Baltimore’s ship traffic and is one of the district’s most important navigation projects.
During World War II, the more than 100-mile-long Delaware River federal navigation channel was deepened to its current 40-foot depth between Philadelphia and the sea. Today the District continues to maintain over 550 miles of navigable channels.
After the 1955 floods that claimed ninety lives, Philadelphia District performed the first comprehensive river basin study in the entire United States. This resulted in the construction of the five earthfill dams that the district now operates and maintains in eastern Pennsylvania.
In response to growing national concern for environmental issues, the 1970s, 80s and 90s saw a significant shift in the district's responsibilities, to include new jurisdiction over wetlands; remediation of hazardous, radioactive and toxic wastes; and projects to restore ecosystems.
The district’s engineering expertise has been applied to a wide variety of coastal projects. Since the early 1990s, we have constructed major beach-fill projects along the Delaware and New Jersey coasts.
The District has a proud history of support of major construction programs including those at Dover Air Force Base; Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst; and the C4ISR complex at Aberdeen Proving Ground. The Philadelphia District has more recently expanded its reach overseas with power contracting initiatives and the continued deployment of personnel to Afghanistan and Iraq.
Today the Philadelphia District’s approximately 500 men and women capably serve the region by applying global engineering expertise to produce neighborhood solutions and beyond. We are privileged and proud to serve the northeast corridor, the people of our entire nation; and the people of the entire world.