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The New York
District TimesSummer 2003 Vol. 28, No. 4&5 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District
9-11-01
District volunteers join FFE team abroadBy Vince Elias
O n the other side of the world,Corp s of Engineer s field force en-g ineer ing t eams con t inue tospend long days and arduous
hours supporting military for-
ward deployed units engaged inoperations in Iraq.
New York District contin-
ues to provide significant supp ortto our troops overseas throughproviding volunteers for FFEteams deployed in support of theArmy at cr i t ical locat ionsthroughout the world. Currently
New York District has deployedfive individuals to the Middle
East and Asia Minor in supportof these critical missions.
During Operation IraqiFreedom, the Corps had FFEteams deployed to Turkey, Kuwait, and Iraq. The 18th
Engineer Brigade (Theater Arm y) dep loyed to Turkeyas part of the Army Forces Turkey team . The brigadeprovided critical d irect eng ineer sup port to ARFOR-T
to facilitate the crucial movement of American com-bined forces land component command forces andsup plies through Turkey into Iraq.
“The Corps trains FFE teams to p rovide tech-
nical engineer ing expertise and over sight of constru c-t ion con t rac t admin i s t ra t ion dur ing war t ime,
contingency operations, and d isaster relief missions,”said Maj. Don Pincus, Project Management teamleader. He served in Turkey as par t of a USACE FFEteam comp rised of volunteers from various Corps dis-tricts. New York District volun teers were Maj. DaveChestnut, Maj. Don Pincus, Mark Kucera, AndrewSmith, William Mathias, and John Kenney. Four vol-
unteers from Philadelphia District were also part ofthe FFE team assigned to the 18th Engineer Brigad e —
part of the Construction Management Section with-out the organization.
Page 2
Continued on page 3
Photo:USACE
CENAU
TUSEG
AreaOffice
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers provided oversight of the construction of a bridgebypass in south-central Turkey. The bypass was emplaced to accomodate the flow
of heavy military equipment.
The passing of a Corps Icon
In memoriam Inside ...
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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers • New York District2
of Engineers
In memoriam
New York District TimesNewsletter of theU.S. Army Corps of Engineers,
New York District
Summer 2003
Commander andDistrict Engineer
Col. John B. O’Dowd
Chief, Public AffairsPeter H. Shugert
peter.h.shugert@usace.army.mil
Editor & Graphic DesignVince Elias
vincent.elias@usace.army.mil
- Authorization: The New YorkDistrict Times is an authorizedunofficial newsletter of the NewYork District. It is published inaccordance with provisions ofArmy Regulation 360-1.
- Circulation: 1500 copies perissue in print and available onthe world wide web.
www.nan.usace.army.mil
- Submission: News, features,photos and art are solicited.Direct queries to: Editor, PublicAffairs Office, U.S. Army Corpsof Engineers, New York District,26 Federal Plaza, Room 2113,New York, NY 10278-0090.
- Contents: Views and opinionsexpressed herein are notnecessarily those of theDepartment of the Army or thiscommand. All photos, unlessotherwise credited, are official
U.S. Army photos.
US Army Corps
New York District
®
New York District lost one of its most exper i-enced engineers with the passing of John H artman n,
Operations Chief on the even ing of Aug. 6.
“Throughout his long career with the NewYork District John Hartmann served his nation, the
U.S. Army and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
with distinction,” said Col. John B. O’Dowd, Dis-
trict Engineer.
“His experience and expertise will be sorely
missed,” O’Dowd add ed.
“I will also personally miss his positive atti-
tude and sense of hum or. Our thoughts and prayers
are w ith his wife Toba, and his family and friends.”
“As chief of the Operations Division, John’s leadership helped shape the
developm ent of our region’s waterfront and maintain the Port of New York and
New Jersey’s waterways,” said Stu Piken, chief, Programs and Project Manage-
ment Division. “But m ore important for u s was the leadership, m entoring and car-
ing he p rovided to all of us in th e New York District.”
(Clockwise) John Hartmann was involved in Corps operations such as debris removal at Ground
Zero, overseeing projects in the field, operations of the fleet of Corps vessels at Caven Point,
N.J., and WTC debris operations at the Staten Is-
land landfill with N.Y.
Gov. George Pataki.
John R. Hartmann, Jr.
Photosprovided
by:RandallHintz
Photo:VinceElias
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3The New York District Times • Summer 2003
FFE team (cont’d. from page 1)
FFE Team Turkey
The du ties of the CMS includ ed on -site design,
reach-back engineering, CAD, master planning, projectman agement, project schedu le developm ent, govern-men t cost estimate p reparation, project status report-ing, adminis ter ing the Kel logg Brown Root
construction contract and various other contracts in-clud ing job orders, and m ultiple award task order con-
tracts.
To enable CFLCC force flow, the U.S. govern-ment contracted KBR to serve as generalcontractor for the construction of num er-
ous facilities across a 700-mile stretch of rugged terrain in southern Turkey.
“The work included bui ldingprojects at comman d posts, seaports, air-
ports, and convoy supp ort centers alongroads and railways, and facilities for the-ater support logistics centers, and tacti-cal assembly areas,” said Pincus.
FFE members from the Corps’Europe District performed commandand control duties for USACE assets sup-porting the 18th Engineer Brigade, con-tract construction management such as job order contracts and multiple award
task order contracts, A/ E contract admin-istration, environmental comp liance, andquality assurance.
According to Pincus, the mission was ex-tremely difficult. However, the cohesiveness and ex-pertise of the FFE team, coupled with their diligenceand determination ensu red su ccessful mission accom-plishment.
“There were obstacles such as th e dan gers anduncertainties associated with war and combat, timeconstraints, restrictions imp osed by the h ost govern-
ment, and putting together a team to meet the de-
mands of deployment,” said Pincus. “FFE membersand the 18th Engineer Brigade staff dem onstrated ex-pertise, professionalism, and commitment to dutythrough out the op eration. This enabled ARFOR-T to
Photo:USACECEN
AU,TUSEG
AreaOffice
successfully establish the initial operating conditionsnecessary for military forces to successfully move
throu gh Turkey.”
“I am extremly proud of all who volunteeredto sup port this importan t mission,” said Col. John BO’Dow d, New York District Engineer. “Their accom-
plishments once again demonstrate how the conductof our civil, military and environmental p rograms en-able us to support our troops when they are orderedinto harm’s way.”
FEE Team Turkey with Hodja Statue in background. “One
Team, One Fight,” as Corps employees and military members
work side by side. (l-r) Andrew Smith, N.Y.; Philip Breen, Phila-
delphia; Maj. Don Pincus, N.Y.; Lanier Drake, Philadelphia; Wil-
liam Matias, N.Y.; John Kenney, N.Y.; Emiliano Cruz,
Philadelphia; Mark Kucera, N.Y., and Maj. Dave Chestnut, N.Y.
Elements of ARFOR-T forces traveling to eastern Turkey (Mardin) to es-
tablish a forward headquarters.
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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers • New York District4
B ehind Liberty Island and in the shadow of the
Statue of Liberty, 1st
Lt. Chris Hu rst and a consoli-dated team of 20 Army divers from Fort Eustis, Va.,were busy in late spring making underwater inspec-tions and necessary rep airs at N ew York District’s
Caven Point, N.J., term inal.
Caven Poin t serves as the New York District’s op erating base for its fleet of ves-sels. The du ties of the vessels vary w ith theprimary mission to keep the m aritime n avi-gation lanes free from obstructions in oneof the w orld’s busiest ports.
New York District tapped into theexpertise of the U.S. Arm y divers after it wasdetermined that the piers were in need of refurbishment and repairs to the quay w allwere necessary. The d ivers also completedund erwater sediment jetting in ord er to freeobstructions from a boat inlet, as well as
boat lift repair and construction. The diveteam spent three weeks from mid-May tomid -Jun e performing the crucial un derw a-ter patching, welding, pier removal, and re-furbishment—at times during inclementweath er conditions.
Few people in the military and evenfewer in the civilian comm un ity are awarethat Army d ivers exist and w hat their mis-sion entails. The training mission at Caven
Point involves just a few of those tasks. Portopening and clearance (salvage and lift),river and beach reconnaissance, search andrecovery, ships husban dry, und erwater ob-stacle emplacement and removal, demoli-t ions, and surveying all fall under the
diver’s capabilities.
Col. John B. O’Dow d, District Engi-neer, welcomed the divers. He also donneda wetsuit and made a dive during the in-
spection. He then took advantage of a long-s tand ing t rad i t ion o f p romot ing foursoldiers from th e d ive team : Pfcs. SeanRowley, Robert Parmenter, William H icken,and Bobby Strother were all promoted byO’Dowd to specialist.
Army divers keep boat terminal shipshape
The divers began their workday very early,
with w ork ending at times at midn ight, or even goinground the clock, dep end ing on the requirements.
(Continued on page 5)
Photos:VinceElias
By Vince Elias
The divers have the capability of
SCUBA and surface-supplied div-
ing, with depths up to 190 feet.
Equipped with hydraulic tools and
600 feet of hose, the diver units
are highly deployable and agile
enough to complete a broad ar-
ray of underwater work.
A team of Army divers spent 3 weeks
performing underwater patching,
welding, pier removal and refurbish-
ment, underwater jetting, and boat lift
repairs at New York District’s Caven
Point, N.J. terminal.
B
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5The New York District Times • Summer 2003
Photo:VinceElias
Photos:Pun
Tung
Siu
Headed by Hu rst, members from the 86th ,569th and 511th engineer dive platoons made up
the consolidated team for th e mission.
“Army divers and the Corps, especiallythe N ew York District, have h ad a longstand ingmu tually-supp ortive relationship. At Caven
Point, we hav e an awesome op portu nity to trainon a w ide variety of tasks and in the p rocess, pro-vide the Corp s of Engineers with a high-qualityprod uct,” said Hu rst. “Army divers are alwayseager to d ive and enjoy this type of tough , realis-tic training.”
The divers began their four-week-longmission by splitting their team into two su b-teams:a jett ing team using“ s u r f a c e - s u p p l i e d ”
se t s and a p ierdeconstruction teamusing hydraulic tools.Soldiers rotatedt h ro u g h b o t h s u b -teams to ensure maxi-
mum poss ib i l i ty o f seeing a ll the aspects of the m iss ion. After-ward, the team recon-
solidated to begin thequay wall repair. Themetal wall , buil t de-cades ago, has recentlydeveloped severe rust
spots and the diverswelded new patches tokeep the wall intact.
After making 25 pa tches, the d ivers again splitinto two sub-teams. One team rebuilt the boat lift whilethe other inspected the cross bracing of the pier and
replaced m uch of the dilapidated beams and hardw are.Throughou t the m ission, boat captains also sought thedivers’ exper tise to correct fouled lines on the boat pro-pellers and assist in performing maintenance of the
shafts.
“One of our unique capabilities,” said Hurst“is the flexibility to respond quickly to new missionson site.”
The work was accomplished without disrup-
tion to the Corp s’ mission at Caven Point.
Divers (cont’d. from page 4)
(Above) Quay wall and parking lot at Caven Point. The divers
fortified the area which began to lose its fill and integrity due to
years of wave again in the tidal zone.
(Left) Divers use a
high-pressure water
blaster at 40,000 psi to
refurbish a boat lift.
They replaced the
decking, removed rust,
painted and made
repairs to the struc-
tural bracing.
Col. O’Dowd, District Engineer, donned a wetsuit and
made a dive during the inspection.
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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers • New York District6
Corps andPark Service
shore up the shore
New York District teamed with theNational Park Service and went on a plant-ing spree along the pristine Staten Island
shoreline in the early sum mer. Their mis-sion: To use natu re to combat the force of nature to shore up the sand dunes withplants.
They spent midday walking along-side a truck wh ose bed was filled with beau -tiful green plants. The plants were placed inthe sand along the shoreline of the Great KillsHarbor at the eastern shore of Staten Island .A variety of coastal specimens were plan ted
along the dun es. The plants were placed to restore thenatu ral plant life along the beach. The beach at GreatKills is part of the Gateway N ational Park area.
A newspaper reporter tagged along with the
group asking questions about the important environ-mental project.
Corps and Park Service personnel planting coastal specimens in the
sand dunes along the eastern shoreline of Staten Island. Planted were
seaside goldenrod, native bay grass, and bayberry bushes.
Photo:PeterShugert
Col. John B. O’Dowd, District Engineer ex-
plained that the plants help the sand d unes preventerosion from the p ound ing ocean sur f.
“The plants can stabilize the d un es and stopthem from eroding,” O’Dowd said. “Dun es provideprotection from storms, and can provide wildlifehabitat.”
EEO Update
Victoria GrossBlack Employment Program ManagerPeople with Disabilities Employment
Program Manager
Sandra MontagneCo-Chair Black Employment Program Manager
Cliff JonesCo-Chair Black Employment Program Manager
Joyce WoodardFederal Women’s Employment Program Manager
Johnny MartinezHispanic Employment Program Manager
Isabelita HuertoAsian Pacific Islander Employment Program Manager
Marty GoffNative American Employment Program Manager
Special Emphasis Program Managers
In June, Col. John B. O’Dowd, District Engineer signed
the agreement under section 111 of the Matituck feasibil-
ity study as members of the project team look on. The
study area is Mattituck Inlet, NY and adjacent shores.
Photo:PeterShuge
rt
Significant signing
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7The New York District Times • Summer 2003
t a k e o f f
By Ken Wells
McGuire Air Force
Base in N ew Jersey is par tof the Air Mobility Com-man d w hose mission is toprovide rapid, global mo-bility and sustainment forAmerica’s armed forces.The C-17 program a tMcGuire is shaping up tobe one of New York
Dis t r ict ’s crowningachievements , wi th 11
projects un der d esign andconstruction totaling $85million.
The project beganwhen Congress approvedthe pu rchase of 14 new C-17 Globemaster III aircraft which would be assignedto McGuire. The C-17 would replace McGuire’s cur-
rent contingen t of 10 C-141 Starlifters, some of w hichda te back to 1960. Following Congress’ decision, AirMobility Command app roached N ew York Districtabou t d eveloping select concepts for the C-17 projectand to verify their program bu dgets .
The execution of the C-17 program fully uti-lizes the Project Management Business Process withan assigned project manager and a fully integratedproject delivery team.
“With the new PMBP in effect, I feel the re-energized enthu siasm, pr ide, and p roject own ership
of the PDT mem bers to see the p rogram executed effi-ciently and effectively to support our Air Force com-mu nity in their mission,” said Stella Marco, the C-17
bed d own p roject man ager.
The project delivery team determined thatsome of the facilities to house and maintain the C-17would have to be built from scratch. In order to ac-comp lish this, engineer s from New York District trav-eled to Ch arleston Air Force Base in South Carolina aswell as McChord Air Force Base in Seattle. Both bases
are home to extensive C-17 programs, wh ich p rovidedNew York District w ith w orking m odels for McGuire.While there, the engineers carefully stud ied the facili-ties, spoke w ith base personn el, and got a feel for the
Major renovations at air force base
operational and functiona
need s of the Air Force.
Add itional topics of dis
cussion includ ed nu mber opersonnel , equ ipmenspecifications, sp ace allocation and lessons learnedFrom those meetings it wasdeterm ined that N ew York
District wou ld need to buildone new maintenance hangar, an inter im fu el cell, air
craf t maintenance shopcommunications supporcenter and a flight simulator.
“McGuire Air ForceBase is a major hub for cargo
and troop transport on the east coast,” Lt. Col. Rich
Keyes, depu ty d irector for the C-17 program pointedout in his interview w ith N ew York District. “Once wehav e access to the C-17 we’ll be even more effective.”
The C-17 mad e its debu t in 1991 and is cap able
of rapid strategic delivery of troops and all types ofcargo to main op erating bases or directly to forwardbases in a d eployment area. It requires a crew of threebut can carry as m any a s six flight officers wh o w orkin alternate shifts. The C-17 is able to deliver tw ice amuch cargo as the C-141 at similar operating cost. I
has enou gh room to tran sport u p to 170,900 pou nd s ocargo, as well as the ability to take off and land onru nw ays as short as 3,500 feet and as narrow as 90 feetThe C-17 is also a ‘low-floor ’ aircraft m eaning vehiclesuch as tanks, jeeps and armored personnel carriers
can be driven d irectly into the cargo hold an d securedfor transport.
By comparison the C-141 has been the workhorse of the Air Mobility Comm and for more than 20years and a stalwart of McGuire’s fleet. It requires alarger flight crew of five but can transport combaforces and equipm ent for long distances as well. However, the C-141 can only transport 68,725 pounds of
cargo and it requires longer runw ays for landing andtakeoff.
(Continued on page 8
The Corps’ C-17 project includes building a new hangar and
renovating and altering existing hangars for the Air Force’s
C-17 aircraft. The aircraft is capable of rapid strategic deliv-
ery of troops and cargo.
USAF
Pho
to
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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers • New York District8
C-17 (cont’d from page 7)
When the C-17 pro ject is completed , the Corps
will have built one new hangar and renovated or al-
tered three existing hangars at a total cost of $38 mil-
lion. Robert Ph ilbrick, an en gineer for N ew York
District is working on the p roject’s design phase. “Thework on hangars is necessary because a C-17’s wing-
span is about 10 feet longer than a C-141 and its Tri-
tail assembly makes it impossible to use most of
McGuire’s existing hangars in their current cond ition,”
said Philbrick. Philbrick also stated tha t each hangar ’s
fire protection system has to be configured to accom-
modate the aircraft’s physical dimensions. “This
means that in the event of an emergency the entire
aircraft can be ad dressed by the fire pro tection system
–something that can’t happen if half the aircraft is
outside the h angar.”
The hangar bay facility will be used for aircraft
maintenance, individually unique aircraft tests and
evaluation of aircraft systems, weap ons systems, and
high-priority test program s. It will also provide ind oor
aircraft jacking so maintenan ce crews can lift the plane
off the ground for heavy maintenance such as flight
control placement and rigging. Maintenance shops will
also be provided for manu factur ing, inspection, repair
and recovery of the aircraft. Additional capabilities will
includ e metal technology and structural maintenan ceto ensure the p lanes stay in p eak condition.
The air freight term i-
nal/ base supp ly complex is
a separate military construc-
tion p roject that is also being
built. The complex, wh en
completed will help supp ort
the C-17 prog ram ’s mission.
The one-story w arehouse is
slated to cost $22 million
with an ad ditional $5 million
for equipment. Its purpose
will be two-fold. The el-
evated finished floor portion
of the bu ilding will consist of
ramps, truck docks, pallet
pits and cargo staging areas
for air freight op erations. An-
other portion of the ware-
house wi l l hand le base
supply functions such as bulk storage, high-density
shelving, parts pick up and delivery. Both sections of
the warehouse will contain offices for administrative
support.
Two paved parking areas are also under con
struction with enough space for approximately 130vehicles. The District will also renovate two existing
facilities displaced by the new airfreight terminal/ base
sup ply comp lex. One w ill house classrooms for train
ing while the other w ill serve as a new in-flight kitchen
facility that provid es meals for crew and passengers
while in flight.
Construction of the training simu lator, wh ose
cost is set at $4.3 million required the Corps to mee
with Boeing Company, the C-17 aircraft man ufacturer
Boeing d eveloped the C-17 simulator p rogram un der
contract to the Air Force and possesses an extensive
know ledge of precisely what is needed to ensure the
flight crews are prop erly trained . Pilots of the C-17
spend most of their time training in simulators because
it’s cost-effective and highly efficient. The average
simulator operates round-the-clock at 16-hour shifts
with 8 hour s dedicated to maintenan ce. In building
the structure wh ere the simu lator will be housed, the
District need ed to m ake special considerations in the
building design for the sophisticated comp uter equ ip
men t and hyd rau lic equipm ent that control the simu
lator.
Construction projects abound at McGuire Air Force Base. Facilities for the C-17 pro-
gram are scheduled to begin opening this Autumn.
(Continued on page 9)
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9The New York District Times • Summer 2003
Additional projects in the C-17 program in-clud e a $1.7 million commu nications su pp ort centerthat will act as the nerve center for the C-17 project,
tying all the buildings into McGuire’s existing com-mu nication network. There will also be a $6 millionmaintenance training device facility for training me-chanics and technicians who will be responsible forma intaining th e aircraft. This building w ill serve as amaintenance-training site for C-17 personnel to hone
their skills on landing gear, cockpits, tail assembliesand other vital portions of the aircraft.
To support the C-17 flight crews, the Districtis also developing plans for a new $15 million con-
solidated flight line opera tions facility. The CFOF willbe home to McGuire’s C-17 squadron s and their sup-port staff. “Right now the pilots are living out of ahangar but recently lived in trailers,” said Keyes.“We’re trying to give them a perm anent h ome.”
The CFOF will also be home to squad ron op-erations, aircraft m aintenance u nits, life sup port ar-eas and surv iva l equ ipment s to rage . Ai rcraf t
maintenan ce will occupy app roximately h alf the firstfloor and consist of administrative services, training
tool storage and small comp onent rep air. The remainder of the first floor will be occupied by life supportand survival equipment storage. Items such as para-chutes, life vests, life rafts and bio-chemical warfareequipm ent will be foun d h ere. Flight crew equ ipmen twill be stored and maintained in this portion of the
facility. Squadron operations will be located on thesecond floor that will hand le mission p lanning, crewscheduling, briefings, training and administrative sup-port.
Some of the bu ildings at th e base date back tothe 1950s and can no longer keep u p w ith the deman dsof moder n techn ology. Engineering challenges in-clud ed rem oving asbestos and PCBs from older structures during demolition. Other challenges included
relocating utilities and water m ains, up grad ing commu nications and digging n ew storm drains.
Facilities for the C-17 program are scheduledto begin opening in the Fall with aircraft slated for arrival in Au gust of 2004.
C-17 (cont’d from page 8)
Col. John O’Dowd and members of the Green Brook Project Delivery Team attended the Green Brook Bridge cer-
emonial ribbon cutting in Boun d Brook, NJ. in July.
The celebration marked the comp letion of the restoredand elevated Green Brook Bridge, a major milestone of theDistrict’s Green Brook Flood Con trol Project tha t is expected to
take over 10 years to complete an d will cost in excess of $400million.
All gathered un der a canopy, not far from the brid ge,“where 10-feet of standing rain water was during Tropical
Storm Floyd in 1999,” remem bered Peter Palmer of the SomersetCounty Board of Chosen Freehold ers. O’Dowd, state politicians,the N ew Jersey Departm ent of Environmental Protection com-missioner, and members of the Green Brook Flood ControlComm ission spoke of the bridge’s imp ortance to the region’seconomic future and the teamw ork that made the d ay a reality.
“This bridge is more than just concrete. It brings two
commu nities together, Bound Brook and Midd lesex Borough.It’s a bridge to the future,” said Bruce Sadowski, president,Middlesex Borough Council.
Flood control project bridge opens at Green Brook
Cutting the cermonial ribbon symbolizing the open-
ing of the new bridge. (r-l) Col. John B. O’Dowd, Dis-
trict Engineer; Peter Palmer, director, Somerset
County Freeholders; David Crabiel, director,
Middlesex County Freeholders; Vernon Noble, chair-
man, Green Brook Flood Control Commission; Bra-
dley Campbell, N.J. Department of Environmental
Protection; Bruce Sadowski, president, Middlesex
Borough Council, and Rep. Mike Ferguson (R-N.J.
7th Dist).
By JoAnne Castagna
Photo:LindaVan
Zandt
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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers • New York District10
Meet David Leach, of Constru c-tion Division wh o wa s nam ed U.S.Army Corps of Engineers employee of
the year.
Leach was selected from hun-dred s of nominees from Districts and Di-visions worldwide, and becomes the
second recipient to be chosen back-to-back from N ew York District. Joseph J.Seebode w as the previous w inner fromNew York District.
Leach received the award for fos-tering teamw ork and creating synergis-
tic relationships, and is credited withmaking v i t a l ly impor tan t work p ro jec t s movesmoothly an d expeditiously.
Leach is remembered for being on e of severalCorps employees working on the response to the at-
tacks against Amer ica in Septem ber 2001. In just onemon th it w ill be two years since the Corps was calledin to assist the Federal Emergency ManagementAgency and th e City of New York. Surv ey and debris
Leach named Corps Employee of the Year
David Leach
boats ferried victims away and struc-tural engineers advised and assisted.
FEMA assigned the d ebris mis-sion to the Corp s at th e Staten Islandlandfill and Leach was assigned asarea engineer, overseeing work by theCorps’ pre-placed d ebris man agement
contractor, Phillips & Jord an of N ash-ville, Tenn .
There they executed the mis-s ion and set up and operated the
equivalent of a base camp on the h illof the land fill. Over one million tons
of debris, ranging in size from mas-sive pillars of steel to wallet-sized ph o-tograph s, were taken to th e landfill.
He w as described by many as a brilliant man-ager, clearing u p a w ork backlog in just four w eeks.
The debris management mission w as consid-erably more difficult because the landfill was also acrime scene, but David Leach had the u nique abilitythat brough t people together as a team.
The battlefield simulation center at Fort
Drum, N.Y. will be a state-of-the-art fa-
cility that will support both battle simu-lations for maneuver units and combat
support simulations. The project will
provide necessary training for Army di-
vision, Guard and Reserve units. The
facility replaces an undersized and de-
teriorating complex, which is currently
housed in eight separate buildings.
(Look for an article on the BSC in the
next issue of the District Times).
Army training facility takes shapeMilitary ProgramsUPDATE
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11The New York District Times • Summer 2003
Around New York Distr ictAround New York Distr ict
Employee uses martial arts as
recovery mechanism
Karate has help ed N ew York District employee
Diane Deptu la, of Hum an Resources, get exercise, hand le
stress, get through illness, and bond with h er children .
She became involved w ith Isshinryu Karate seven
years ago when her daughter, then 9 years old, started
classes. She imm ediately signed up and started the w eek
after. “I like karate because of the overa ll exercise I get an dbecause it is a great stress reliever. We start with a stretching routine, follow
with calisthenics, that’s followed with u pp er and lower bod y techniques, then
we work on ou r Kata, wh ich are a series of self defense or fighting techniques,
then w e typically end w ith Kumite, which is light sparring,” she said.
The exercise she receives from kara te enabled h er to get through a physi-
cally challenging part of her life. Three years ago she was diagnosed with a
benign brain tum or located on a nerve that controls hearing and balance. As a
result she lost hearing in h er right ear an d balance on the right side of her body.
“At the time of my d iagnosis I was in the best ph ysical shape of m y life because
of kara te. Subsequen tly, kara te helped m e becau se it focuses on balance. This,
in turn h elped me with my d iminished balance function,” she said.
Three years later she continues to practice the art and in June 2003 she
earned a 1st degree black belt. To earn the belt she had to be able to explain the
lineage an d terminology of Isshinryu Karate, demonstrate p roficiency in p er-
forming the Katas, and, the “h ardest p art.” sparring w ith a nu mber of senior black belts, one after another. She
plans on ad vancing to a 3rd degree black belt. This wou ld enable her to be a sensei, or teacher, and ed ucate youn g
children about th e art, w hich she enjoys.
The same d ay she received her black belt, her dau ghter received h er brown belt. “I was able to give my
daughter my brown belt. When you pass your belt down to another student it is said to mean that you are
passing dow n the know ledge associated with that belt.” She ad ds, “Passing the belt to my dau ghter w as a veryproud mom ent for me.”
A proud moment in Deptula’s
life was passing her brown belt
to her daughter Kaitlin.
Lightning quick Deptula spars with another karate op-
ponent.
By JoAnne Castagna
CAREER MILESTONE FOR EMPLOYEE DAUGHTER
Stella Lymberis, M.D., daughter of New York District employee Gus Lymberis, recently
achieved a milestone when she was awarded a grant from the Radiological Society of
North America Research and Education Foundation. The grant will be used in her studies
at New York University Medical Center Institute. Dr. Lymberis is currently a resident physi-
cian in the Department of Radiation Oncology at NYU MCI.
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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers • New York District12
Employees lauded at Engineer Day 2003Hats off to the following employees who were recognized in July by Col. John O’Dowd, District
Engineer for their performance and service to the government.
Service AwardsCOMMANDER’S AWARDS
Robert AlpernSupervisor of the Year
Lynn RakosProfessional of the Year
Stuart ChaseEngineer of the Year
Stella MarcoEmployee of the Year
Steven NolsOutstanding Government Improvement
Thomas RoseHealth and Safety
Joseph MyersWage Grade Employee of the Year
Gail CristieManagement Assistant of the Year
Andrea ShouldersLeadership Award
Kill Van Kull Project Delivery TeamProject Delivery Team of the Year
Field Force Engineer Team (Turkey)Forward Engineer Support Team
Albany Field Office Western PermitsSection Team
Teamwork Award
DISTRICT INCENTIVE AWARDS
Frank MullinPeers Outstanding Service Trophy
Marty GoffSpotlight Award
John DowningSpecial Thanks and Recognition Award
OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTIONS
Rita FisherU.S. Savings Bonds
Liliana CorreaRed Cross Blood Drive
Gustavo Sierra-GonzalesCombined Federal Campaign
40 Years
John Petrovich
35 Years
Stuart Chase
Arthur Connolly
30 Years
Jess ArringtonGerald ByrneBarbara Crawford
Joseph ChupaBarbara DinniganPerlita DockettStanley George
Anthony HansMuriel LambsonJohn JacksonWilliam Matias
William McDonaldNicolasa RuizThomas Thompson
25 Years
Brian AballoRobert Alpern
Lou BenardDavid BrouwerHonesto Castaneda
John ChewGrace CollinsAlma DabneyLawrence Danner
Sandra GaffneyMonte GregesRalph Karpel
Robert KurtzNestor LimRichard MandraWilliam Petronis
Steven SchumachJohn TavolaroKing Yee
20 Years
Milagros Alexoudis
Betzaida AndujarVincent BertolinoShewen BianConstance Black
Anesta BotrosJannie ButlerThomas Compitello
Sterret DanielsThomas DannemanStephen DeNardisFranco DiCroce
Elaine EubanksDiane EvansPaul FrancoJacqueline Garcia
Gregory GoepfertRobert HassPaula Higgins
Paul JalowskiTeresa JohnsonPaul KaraJohn Kirk
Anthony LauriaWilliam LithgowAdam ManzanoStanley Michalowski
Jane MordanSandra MontagneRobin Owens
Arlene PetrosinoRobert PhilbrickRick RacklinThomas Roche
Antonio SianAnne SpiegelbergMichael WojcickiJohn Wong
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13The New York District Times • Summer 2003
Hall of Fame
New York City Federal ExecutiveBoard Awards 2003
Madona CamishionAdministrative Support
Randy WilliamsDirect Service
David LeachDistinguished Service
Neal KolbTeam Leader
Gustavo Sierra-Gonzalez
Combined Federal Campaign
Thomas HodsonDistinguished
Government Service
Chairman’sAward winners
Hall of Fame
Louis W. Pinata
Inducted July 2003
Retirements
Jerry
Caspe
JoeIngiane
Engineering
41 years
Logistics
Management
Ellen Higgins
Operations
32 years
Gold Coin recipientsStarsStars
Ronald Brattain,
project planner and
Karl Ahlen of Plan-
ning Division re-
ceived a USACE
gold coin for their role in the Union Beach,
N.J. shore protection project.
20 years
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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers • New York District14
History is being mad e right now in the Port of New York and NewJersey, which is the largest container p ort on th e East Coast. Curren tly, there
are approximately 80 pieces of dredging-related equipment in the harbor,includ ing d redges, drill boats, survey boats, tugs and scows. It is arguablythe largest concentra tion of equipm ent in one area in th e entire 200-year his-tory of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Many pieces of equipment areworking to d eepen th e three active contract areas in the Kill van Kull to 45feet, which stretches eight miles from Up per New York Bay into N ewark Bay.Eventually, using a creative “piggyback” contract by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, a portion of the KvK channel will be the firstcompleted 50-foot chann el in the p ort.
Years before the mobilization of the first d redge, before the first project
area was aw arded to a contractor, the KvK team worked together to produ ce
a Project Management Plan du ring the p lanning and design p hase. Now, the Project Delivery Team h as executedan aggressive, accelerated schedule, which by 2004 will complete the deepening project ahead of schedule and
under bud get.
“We w orked closely w ith other agen-cies, including the Port Authority engi-neers, to identify and evaluate a numberof opportunities to accelerate the sched-ule,” said Steve Weinberg, EngineeringTeam leader, New York District, who has
worked on the p roject since its first phasein the early ‘90s. “We optimized the con-
struction contract size and sequence, whilesimultaneously minimizing the impact onthe environment through environmentalwindows. We also modified equipmentand d eployed innovative methods of dis-posal op tions that increased th e project ex-ecution capabilities wh ile m aintaining
nav igation safety.”
The dedication and teamwork of allthe m embers is credited for this huge accomplishment, loggingcountless hou rs to keep th e project moving forward . The team
includes Corp s staff ranging from Contr acting Division to Coun-sel; Engineering to Construction; and Real Estate to Logistics.Also it includes several ou tside agencies such as the p roject spon-sors, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey; the U.S.Coast Guard; Sandy Hook Pilots, and the New Jersey Depart-men t of Transp ortation.
The first phase of this project began in the mid 1980s anddeep ened the KvK to 40 feet. Now, because of the dem and of thelarger vessels calling a t the port, contractors have been workingto constru ct a 50-foot channel in certain areas.
Making way for bigger shipsBy Carolyn Vadino
(Continued on page 15)
Rock glacial till material being taken from the Kill
van Kull. (Photo: Larry Baier, NJ DEP)
The Kill van Kill project area map. The Kill van Kull is a waterway that separates
New Jersey and New York states between Bayonne, N.J. and Port Richmond,
N.Y. The waterway is used primarily by container vessels laden with goods
entering or exiting important ports in the metropolitan area.
A dredge removes material dur-
ing deepening operations.
Photo:PeterShugert
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15The New York District Times • Summer 2003
KvK (cont’d. from page 14)
Post-Panam ax vessels, which to the outside eyecan appear no different from 10 years ago, actuallywill carry 8,000 containers, compared to 3,000 typi-
cally loaded on tod ay’s Panam ax ships.
The Kill van Kull is one of the most heavilytrafficked channels in the p ort, where d redging, dr ill-ing and blasting occurs d aily. While the Corp s and itscontractors work to deepen the channel, it remainsopen to daily vessel traffic. In order to ensu re safe ves-sel movement requ ires daily commun ication betweenthe Coast Guard and the pilots navigating the p ort. Itis a challenge that often goes u nnoticed by those notdirectly involved in th e deep ening p rocess.
“Joe Citizen may read in the pap er or see the
vessels within the channel moving back and forth or
floating stationary, and to them , it looks pretty m un -
dan e,” said Tom Costanzo, a project manager with th ePort Authority who has been working on the d eepening p roject since the first phase in 1980. “The on ly rea-son it looks mundane is because the Coast Guard isdoing one hell of a job to m ake sure channel closuresand restricted channel passages are working to the
optimal degree possible.”Additional challenges range from navigational
and environmental imp acts that could h ave halted theprogress of the project, to quality-of-life impacts af-fecting surrounding communities as a result of con-tinuous drilling and blasting. Team members creditthe constant comm un ication interna lly, as well as withthe affected communities, as one of the key successfactors of this p roject.
“There have been challenges because thisproject is highly visible in th e pu blic eye,” said H arold
Haw kins, of the Harbor Program Branch.
One of the nation’s most popular symbols, the Statue of Liberty willbe the focus of one of New York District’s civil works p rojects. In OctoberNew York District will begin making repairs to the seawa ll that su rroun dsthe national pa rk of Liberty Island . The d istrict w as asked by the N ationalPark Service to rep air the Liberty Island seawall, “in the shad ow of the great
statue,” said Anthon y Ciorra, project man ager, PPMD.
Liberty Island is where th e national m onu ment stands. The 12.7-acreisland sits in the Upp er Bay por tion of New York H arbor. Over the centuriesLibety Island h as been called d ifferent nam es including “Minnissais” by the
Mohegan Ind ians, Great Oyster, Love Island , Bedloo’s Island , and todayLiberty Island, just to name a few. and has had various owners such asAmsterd am, England, France, and the United States.
The island has served dif-
ferent p urp oses – as a defense for-t ification to protect New York
Harbor in th e 19
th
century, as a tem-porary quarantine station duringthe sma llpox epidem ic, as a refugefor Tory sympath izers dur ing
England ’s occup ation, and also asa summ er home by a private owner.
In the late 19th century, theisland was chosen to be the home
for the Statue of Liberty, a gift of in-ternational friendship from thepeop le of France.
District to fortify seawall around Lady Liberty
The Statue of Liberty national monument, and the seawall surrounding Liberty
Island.
Photos:VinceElias
By JoAnne Castagna
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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers • New York District16
In 1996, a tenant of a 27,000-square-foot resi-
dential building in Hoboken, N.J. observed droplets
of an odd substance dripp ing from th e ceiling onto the
countertop of their apartmen t. State health officials
were notified and responded. They discovered mer-
cury, a human toxin, underneath the building’s
wooden floorboards, absorbed in the walls and mer-
cury vap or in the air. Urinalysis testing w as condu cted
for the residen ts. The results showed unacceptable lev-
els of mercury in some children who were living in
the building. The building was proclaimed an immi-
nent pu blic health hazard .
At the request of the EPA, New York District
oversaw th e clean u p d esigned by a General Electriccontractor, Blaslund , Bouck, an d Lee, Inc., and carried
ou t by BBL’s contractor, Sabre Dem olition, Inc.
Approximately 40,000 residents live
within a one-mile radius of the building and
a high school nearby. The structure includ es
a five-story building and an attached four-
story brick town house.
From 1910 to 1965 the bu ilding served
as a m ercury man ufacturing facility for Gen-
eral Electric Compan y. For 55 years the ind us-trial building produ ced m ercury vap or lamps
and mercury connector switches.
In the early to mid ‘90s the five-story
building was converted into 16 residential
apar tments and artist stud ios. After the mer-
cury was discovered in the
mid-‘90s, the U.S. Environ-
men tal Protection Agen cy
investigated and decided
that the site needed to be
remediated. This includeddemolition of the building,
soil sampling, excavation,
and off-site disposal of ma-
terials.
GE was required un -
der administrative order to
perform the remediation.
The Corps and EPA
relocated 16 families and 20
Corps and EPA remediate New Jersey siteBy Joanne Castagna
businesses from th e area. The governm ent bough t out
their property and even tually provided alternate per-
man ent residences.“Remediation of the building involved disas-
sembling it by hand and dem olishing the brick wa lls
using jack hammers. The building’s windows were
removed and the brick surfaces beneath them in-
spected for mercury contamination. The floor w as re-
moved one bay at a time and insp ected for mercury.
The concrete slab and subsu rface pip ing was removed
and mercury contamination w as removed from the
surrou nd ing soil,” said N eil Ravensbergen, project en-
gineer.
(Continued on page 17)
Photos:NeilRavensbergen
Scaffolding was installed
around the structure and
covered with shrink wrap
to keep dust from migrat-
ing offsite.
Workers removed the
flooring and inspected
for mercury contamina-
tion.
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17The New York District Times • Summer 2003
While remediation wasongoing, measures were taken toprotect the surround ing popula-
tion from mercury contamina-tion. Measures included settingup an air han dling system to fil-t e r ou t mercury vapor ; su r -rounding the bu i ld ing wi th
scaffolding and covering it withshrink wrap to eliminate dustmigrat ion; placing s idewalk closings, a perimeter fence, andconcrete barriers around the site;mon itoring the a ir for contami-
nants and n oise du ring the work
day; and establishing a water treatmen t plant to pro-cess water that came in contact with m ercury-contami-nated m aterials.
The non-hazardou s solid w aste and asbestos-con ta in ing mater ia l tha t was removed dur ingremediation was transported to waste management fa-cilities in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and mercury-containing debris was shipped to hazardous wastelandfills in N ew York an d Alabama. Elemen tal mer-
cury w as recycled.
“So far th e project has been successful. The resi-dents are happy and we have made s ignif icantprogress on the remediation of the site and restoration
is imminent . We are cont inuing to sample andremed iate the soil at the site and in neighboring yard s.
The project is estimated to becompleted by Spring 2004,”said Ravensbergen.
The project’s success isa resul t of teamwork be-
tween the various agencies,“As a team w e developed anunderstanding of each oth-er ’s concerns and needs and
worked together with theEPA and GE to resolve issuesand manage the work andprovide a safe work environ-men t,” said Ravensbergen.
“Our working relation-ship has been excellent. The
Corps’ staff, when reporting any problems, alwayssuggests technically-feasible and sound solutions,”said Jon Gorin, remedial project manager, EPA RegionII. “Also, over the years, I’ve found th at the engineersfrom the Corps hav e a good sense of when an issue isimportan t, and w hen it is something relatively minor.
I’ve not always found that to be the case when w ork-ing w ith oversight staff from private firms.”
“I have worked at several Sup erfund sites andthis has been a real success in terms of removing aser ious hea l th hazard to the pub l ic ,” added
Ravensbergen. “Not only was this building not struc-turally sound, but the mercury contamination wasoverwhelming and truly a health hazard to anyoneon or aroun d it. It’s a sham e to loose a piece of historybut it w as a benefit to the overall environment.”
The building’s windows were removed and the brick
surfaces beneath inspected for mercury contamina-
tion.
Remediation (cont’d from page 16)
Photo:NeilRavensbergen
TidbitsBy Mary Stavina
Did you know?
Robert E. Lee was a U.S. Army engineer officer
from 1829 to 1855. Born Jan. 19, 1807 in Stratford
Hall, Westmoreland County, Va., Lee’s father was
Revolutionary War hero Henry “Light-Horse
Harry” Lee. Home-schooled by his parents until
he was 13, he then entered an academy in Alex-andria, Va. After a year at a Quaker prep school, he entered the U.S. Military Academy,
West Point, NY July 1, 1825. An excellent student, Lee graduated number two in the
class of 1829 and entered the Corps of Engineers.
His first assignment was as assistant engineer of fortification work on Cockspur Island in
the Savannah River. For a time he worked under the command of Lt. Joseph Mansfield,
Corps of Engineers, who would be killed at Antietam leading a Union Army Corps.
In 1831 Lee went to Fort Monroe, Va., as assistant engineer responsible for the outworks
and approaches to Fort Monroe and preparatory work for construction of Fort Calhoun,
now Fort Wool, Va. Gen. Robert E. Lee
SourceUSACE
HistoryOffice
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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers • New York District18
New York District moved forward with theimplemen tation of PMBP by training em ployees to be
facilitators for the small group discussion portion of the PMBP employee training. “The PMBP is aboutpeople working together in teams including th e cus-tomer an d together creating plans to accomp lish thegoals of the project,” said Col. O’Dowd. “The smallgroup discussions are an invaluable w ay of learning
abou t th e PMBP.”
Earlier this year, over 45 New York Distr ict em-ployees received tra ining tobecome PMBP small group
discussion facilitators andfound i t to be useful. “I
l earned tha t you rea l lyhave to plan, plan, planyour facilitated sessions,not monopolize the discus-sion, and try to get othersto open up,” said GregoryGoepfert, project manager
PPMD, and faci l i tator .Monique Wiggins, an ac-countant in Resource Man-agement and faci l i tatorsaid that she did the train-ing because she likes chal-
lenges . She learned thedifference betw een facilita-tion, teaching and aboutvarious facilitation tech-niques.
John Chu bb, Assistan t Chief, PPMD, BaltimoreDistrict came to N ew York District to conduct the fa-cilitation training with his partner, Alan Koppel, pro-gram man ager. “Alan and I co-facilitated small groupfacilitation training a t all six districts in th e North At-
lantic Division. I think the facilitators ensure that wehave open an d h onest dialog as we d iscuss our respec-tive and diverse views about teamwork.” He adds,“The bottom line is we all need to be pu lling togetherto ensure we remain tru ly the best. The world is moreand more competit ive and our customers have achoice.”
The small group facilitated discussions beganin early Spr ing and New York District emp loyees were
Group discussions a catalyst for program successBy JoAnne Castagna
In the spring of 2003, discussions began with employees organized into small groups.
Photo:V
ince
Elias
organized into group s. They talked abou t the topics
outlined in the inter-active, multi-media PMBP CDcurriculum that employees reviewed prior to the
meetings. Topics included “Why PMBP?” and “Teamsand Me.”
The small group discussion attendees hadpositive things to say as well. When asked if they arebenefiting from these discussions, Robert Philbrick wh o just attend ed h is first discussion answ ered, “Adefinite yes.” Philbrick, a project engineer with Engi-
neering Division add ed, “This process encourages em-ployees to hear others’ points of view on each top icand provides an excellent format for employees to
define PMBP in their own word s.”
O’Dowd stated that in the near future the
PMBP will be supp orted by P2, a new autom ated sys-tem for m anaging p rojects, and following the sm allgroup discussions em ployees will be able to obtainfurther PMBP mentoring and coaching from theirmanagers and supervisors. He add ed, “When it comesto the small group discussions, there is somethingpositive to be gained in taking a few h ours to d iscusswh ere the Corps is going in the future and to improve
wh at w e are doing as a district, which in turn effectswh at we are doing for the nation.”
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19The New York District Times • Summer 2003
District shots summer 2003
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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers • New York District20
A Friendly Remind er from Your Security Office...
Do not process, store or transm it classified inform ation on non-secure telecomm un ications systems. OfficialDepartm ent of Defense telecomm un ications systems — including teleph ones, fax machines, comp uter net-
works, and mod ems — are subject to monitoring for telecomm un ications security pu rposes at all times. Use
of official DoD telecomm un ications systems constitu tes consen t to telecomm un ications security mon itoring.
Attn: PAO, Rm 2113
26 Federal PlazaNew York, NY 10278-0090
EMPLOYEE HOTLINE
Emergencies
Inclement Weather
Building closure
(888) 700-0029
Julie Ha, PPMDGenaro Paulino Perez
Shawn Stumpf, PLJames Bennett, Ops
Herman Wine, PPMDFrancis Delfino, PAODavid Seng, Ops
Farewell
Welcome
New York District was informed by a letter from Mrs. RuthSchwartz of the passing of her husband Max Schwartz.
Max Schwartz was a World War II veteran and was with the
Corps of Engineers for 45 years prior to his retirement in 1985.
Taps
V . P
e r r
e r a Where on the road in New York
may a bicyclist drive?
The law requires that bicyclists drive with traffic (Sec. 1234(a)).
Bicycling against traffic is a leading cause of bicycle accidentsGoing with traffic makes bicyclists more visible, and their move-
ments more predictable, to motorists. Pedestrians are required
to use sidewalks when they are provided and safe to use. Where
sidewalks are not provided, a pedestrian is required to walk on
the left side of the roadway facing traffic (Sec. 1156). Source
N.Y. State Department of Transportation
Be Safe
9-11-01
LestWeForget
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