Latest news with #USArmyCorpsofEngineers
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Army preparing for largest military parade on the capital's streets in decades, featuring 7 million pounds of hardware
Millions of pounds of military hardware are expected to roll down the US capital's streets in less than two weeks, fulfilling a dream of President Donald Trump but also an effort that has sparked concerns about how the roads of Washington, DC, will fare under the literal weight of heavy tanks and fighting vehicles. The largest military parade the city has seen in decades is expected to bring seven million pounds of vehicles and weaponry as well as a price tag potentially in the tens of millions of dollars, and this week the US Army has started reinforcing the roads that will carry the hardware downtown and along the parade route. The parade on June 14 will feature dozens of M1-A1 Abrams tanks and Bradley and Stryker fighting vehicles rolling through the streets of DC, as well as Howitzers and other artillery pieces, officials said. Nearly 7,000 soldiers are set to participate. Most of the tanks, vehicles and equipment are currently en route to Maryland from Fort Cavazos in Texas, and will arrive by train at the rail station in Jessup, Maryland, early next week. They will then be offloaded onto flatbed trucks for onward transport to DC. All told, the parade is expected to bring roughly 7 million pounds of military hardware to the streets of the nation's capital, a non-military official involved in the planning said. But the US Army Corps of Engineers, which has been leading on the effort to protect DC roads and infrastructure, is confident in the mitigation efforts the Army is deploying to minimize damage – efforts that have cost more than $3 million alone so far, Army officials said. The total cost of the parade could be as high as $45 million, officials have estimated. The damage mitigation efforts include laying steel plates down on roads, particularly at spots where the tanks will make sharp turns; putting new track pads on every vehicle to relieve some pressure and create separation between the metal and the asphalt; and ensuring the tanks move only at a walking pace during the parade itself, the officials said. Col. Jesse Curry, the director of the Office of the Chief of Engineers, told CNN that the Army has worked extensively with various agencies and DC utility companies in its planning to minimize potential damage. The Army began laying down steel plates in roughly a dozen locations along the parade route on Wednesday night, Curry said, and is planning to put down matting at a staging area in West Potomac Park, near the National Mall, for the Abrams tanks to sit on before they roll down Constitution Avenue. 'Our concern from an engineer technical evaluation on anything below the surface of the road that's going to be damaged is very, very low,' Curry said. 'We've got the best (engineers) in the world.' The Army's 250th birthday celebration has been in the works for two years, Army officials said. But adding a parade was the Trump White House's idea, so planning for that began only two months ago. Trump's desire for a large military parade – featuring all of the military services – dates back to his first term. But it was scrapped at the time because defense officials said it would cost as much as $100 million and damage DC streets. This month's parade will focus only on the Army, making it slightly smaller and less expensive. The Army Corps of Engineers began assessing how to protect DC infrastructure during the parade back in April, Curry said. The initial worst-case-scenario estimate to protect DC streets was roughly $16 million, Curry said. That would have been the cost if the Army 'did nothing to mitigate' the impacts, he explained. Now, the estimate has dropped down to around $3.5 million, which will include the cost for putting down steel plates and reinforcing them into the pavement with railroad ties, removing the plates afterwards, and any cosmetic upkeep that needs to be done in the wake of the parade. Two people who are not in the military but are involved in the parade's planning told CNN there are still concerns among some agencies over potential damage to underground gas lines – particularly on the route from the rail station in Jessup to the holding area near the National Mall. But Curry emphasized that the Army Corps of Engineers assesses that risk to be 'very low.' The Army has consulted with the National Park Services, the Federal Highway Administration, DC Water, Washington Gas, Pepco, the Department of Transportation and 'all the associated authorities and utility companies that would have rightful concerns,' Curry said. During those discussions, the Army went over the expected route with the companies, looking at their underground gas and electric lines, which Curry said largely run under sidewalks instead of in the middle of the road. That alone mitigated some of the concern over damage to critical infrastructure, Curry said. 'If we're driving on sidewalks, something went really wrong,' he said. Curry noted that the Army frequently transports tanks and heavy fighting vehicles on trucks all around the country, without causing infrastructure issues. The parade is meant to tell the story of the Army through its 250-year history, beginning with the Revolutionary War, tracing through major conflicts and ending with present day. The parade route will begin near the Lincoln Memorial on Constitution Avenue, continue east to 15th Street, and end at the corner of 15th and Independence Avenue. Here is a breakdown of what will be featured: World War I A Dodge Staff car Renault tank World War II 6 Willys jeeps 2 Sherman tanks 2 Half-tracks 1 M14 high-speed tractor A 2.5-ton truck towing a 37mm anti-tank gun Vietnam War: 3 M151 jeeps 2 M35A2 cargo trucks 1 M274 Mule Gulf War: 8 M181 armored vehicles 2 Paladins 8 M2 Bradley fighting vehicles 6 M119 howitzers Global War on Terror: 18 Strykers Modern Era 1 6 M777 artillery pieces 12 M2 Bradley fighting vehicles 4 M119 howitzers 12 ISV utility vehicles 12 Abrams tanks Modern Era 2 3 Paladins 12 Strykers 12 M2 Bradley fighting vehicles 9 M777 artillery pieces 9 Joint Light Tactical Vehicles 12 Abrams tanks The parade will also feature an 'extensive' flyover, Army officials said, involving more than 50 helicopters. Those will include AH-64 Apaches, UH-60 Black Hawks and CH-47 Chinooks. Finally, the Army's Golden Knights parachute demonstration team will jump and present Trump with an American flag – the only part of the parade that will involve the president directly, Army officials said.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
El Dorado and Cheney see lake levels rise after rain
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) – El Dorado Lake rapidly rose on Tuesday after heavy rain in the area. The US Army Corps of Engineers reported that the level was 1,344 feet on Wednesday. For comparison, at midnight on June 3, the lake was 1,339, a 5-foot increase. On Tuesday, the inflow to the lake reached 50,000 cubic feet per second or 22 million gallons per minute. Meanwhile, Cheney Lake, a supply for Wichita's water, is up. On Wednesday, the lake level was 1,416.50 feet according to the US Army Corps of Engineers, and the conservation pool is 71.24% full. For comparison, last month, the lake was at 1413.60 feet. The lake is still 5 feet below normal. More rain is expected to fall. The KSN Storm Track 3 Weather team is tracking more storm chances for the rest of the week. Rainfall reports from Kansas For more Kansas news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news by downloading our mobile app and signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track 3 Weather app by clicking here. To watch our shows live on our website, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Lake Lure wastewater plan begins
LAKE LURE, N.C. (WSPA) – Town officials in Lake Lure will begin lowering the water level Monday as the cleanup from Hurricane Helene continues. 7NEWS previously reported that Mayor Carol Pritchett stated that the lake was 'extremely unlikely' to open for the summer of 2025 due to the aftermath of Helene. The mayor stated that the town is working with the US Army Corps of Engineers to remove the subsurface lake debris, silt and sedimentation. The drawdown plan is for around a foot to a foot-and-a-half of water to be removed each day. Lake Lure will be lowered to almost 30 feet below full pond, while the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will work on and inspect the dam and sewer system. Town officials said public work crews are working to continue to clear the park and begin the beautification process. At this time, there is no boating or swimming allowed in Lake Lure. Several attractions and activities are available in the area while crews continue to work on the lake such as Dittmer-Watts Nature Trails, Lake Lure Green Space, Pool Creek Picnic Park, Youngs Mountain and Rumbling Bald Golf 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
How Hurricane Helene reshaped Lake Lure
It's hard to forget the images from Lake Lure following the destruction of Hurricane Helene. Over 22 inches of rain fell across the Lake Lure Dam watershed, leading to catastrophic damage to the town and surrounding areas. 'We had water getting funneled down through, it was coming around, over top of the bridges here, carrying with it that construction debris, businesses from up in Chimney Rock,' said Dustin Waycaster, Fire Chief and Emergency Management Director for the town of Lake Lure. 'We had campers, cars, propane tanks.' Waycaster told Channel 9's Danielle Miller he had no idea how bad it would be. 'This storm was just so unprecedented, like, even with that plan in place, it was flooding and debris that we've never had to deal with before,' he said. Eight months later, Lake Lure Mayor Carol Pritchett says the town has made significant strides in rebuilding. 'We're trying to make sure that as we repair the damage that was done from this disaster, we're also doing whatever we can to make it better, so that the next time we won't have this much disaster,' Pritchett said. One thing that's been a constant during recovery efforts in Lake Lure is the US Army Corps of Engineers, which estimates that 1 million cubic yards of debris still needs to be removed from the lake. That's about the amount of 300 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Along with dredging Lake Lure, Mayor Pritchett says there are plans to widen where the Broad River meets the lake. 'It was sort of like a nozzle when everything came down the river and shot it out with such great force. So just by widening some of that would slow that down and that would just be a huge, that would be a huge improvement,' Pritchett said. The Lake Lure Dam is also a central part of recovery efforts. While the 100-year-old dam itself did not fail during the storm, Mayor Pro-Tem Dave DiOrio says the town is working on plans to replace it so it can even better handle future weather events. 'Time moves on and we know more about weather patterns and we know more about the potential for flooding and this dam just doesn't meet the normal, modern standards of what we'd want with a dam both with capacity to absorb a flood,' said DiOrio. Helene's flooding rain not only put a spotlight on the need for a stronger dam, but also the need for a better protected communications infrastructure. The town built emergency sirens after the flood of 1996. Jim Proctor watched that flood from his backyard and says they've learned even more since then about how important the lake is for communication in western North Carolina. 'The main trunk line for internet and telephone between Charlotte and Asheville goes through the Hickory Nut Gorge; 90% of the connectivity between Charlotte and Asheville went away from Helene,' Proctor said. Proctor says plans are in place to bury new lines in the roads that are being constructed and to reset emergency management towers so they don't wash away during a flood. The town also hopes to build a new cell tower, so people can stay in touch during these big weather events. 'We'll build it back and it's coming back, but it's just a process we gotta work through,' Waycaster said. (VIDEO: Lake Lure Dam no longer at imminent risk of failure, officials say)
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Lake Lure: Long road to recovery
LAKE LURE, N.C. (WSPA) – 'Immediately, we had no services. We had no sewer. That was probably the worst part of it. We had no water,' Carol Pritchett, Mayor of Lake Lure, said. 'The water was restored more quickly because we have wells. So, that was probably just a matter of a few weeks. Lack of any cell service was tantamount.' It wasn't just Lake Lure that saw its own debris collect in the Broad River, but also from nearby towns as well. Just a few miles up the river, at Chimney Rock and Bat Cave, is where over half a million cubic yards of non-natural debris ended up flooding across Lake Lure. Just a few days later is when natural debris of another 500,000 cubic yards ended up covering that non-natural debris. It was shortly after Hurricane Helene was gone that the US Army Corps of Engineers showed up to begin the cleaning process. Makenzie Leonard, with the US Army Corps, said the contractors are working diligently to get everything cleared. 'The Corps of Engineers and our contractors are out here seven days a week, 12 hours a day, trying to get as much of this done as quickly as possible so that life can go, back to normal for as many folks as possible.' Even after over 230 days of digging and cleaning, they are only 43% of the way done with waterway clearing, including creeks, rivers, and lakes. Lake Lure typically has a season that runs from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Mayor Pritchett said that due to the cleaning, the lake will not be open this year. 'We as a town wanted everybody to know, we need to focus on all the other wonderful things there are to do besides just the lake.' Some of those things include bed and breakfasts and resorts like Lake Lure Inn and Rumbling Bald. Pritchett is also very happy with another nearby feature. 'The trails are one of them. We have beautiful trails. We did have landslides on some of the trails. We've worked hard and we've had a lot of volunteers from, like, Carolina Conservancy to help us get rid of that and restore the trails. And so those are open for people now.' Pritchett strives to learn from Helene and learn what can be done in the future for whenever the next natural disaster strikes. 'Our emergency management team was prepared as well as anybody could possibly be for what you envisioned might happen. But we're going to capitalize on what we know now.' So, as Lake Lure continues to be cleaned, Pritchett invites travelers to the area. 'We would love to have people come here. We really would. And it's perfectly safe. And we are very dedicated to ensuring that we're not going to promote anything for tourists to come that's not safe.' Mayor Pritchett also said that the water is constantly tested and is safe. And while some of the beach areas may be open, you still cannot get in the water just yet. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
