Headwaters UpdateUS Army Corps of Engineers, Pittsburgh District, Vol. 2, Issue 1, April 2011

US Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District

COL William GrahamDistrict Commander

Public Affairs ChiefJeffrey Hawk

Editor/LayoutSheila Tunney

Public Affairs Offi ce412-395-7500

www.lrp.usace.army.mil

Headwaters Update is a quarterly publication of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Pittsburgh District. It is produced for electronic distribution by the Public Affairs Offi ce. Views and opinions expressed in the Headwaters Update are not neces-sarily those of the Department of the Army or the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Submissions may be sent to CELRP-PA@ usace.army.mil for con-sideration in upcoming editions. Stories submit-ted should be in a Word document format. All photographs should include a caption and be high resolution (at least 4x6 inches and 300 dpi).

Cov

erBy Sheila Tunney, PAO On Feb. 24, the Equal Employment Offi ce hosted Dr. Laurence Glasclo, Associate Professor of Histo-ry, University of Pittsburgh, who gave a presentation

in honor of Black History Month. The presentation in the Port of Pitts-burgh room explored attempts to abolish slavery in the United States and illuminated the various degrees of “freedom” African Americans experienced. Glasclo localized the experience by inviting attendees to read and discuss historical Pittsburgh area cases in which blacks were ordered into a new legal status, including indentured servitude, unpaid ap-prenticeship and outright freedom. Many times, Glasclo said, the new status contin-ued to cause hardships. The subjects in the cases Glasclo pre-sented often bore the names of Pittsburgh’s founding fathers--many of whom were slave owners.

In appreciation for sharing his time and knowl-edge, Deputy Commander Lt. Col. Randall Wheeler presented Glasclo with a Pittsburgh District coffee mug and commander’s coin.

Presentation explores abolition in Pennsylvania

Dr. Laurence Glasclo (standing), Associate Professor of History, University of Pittsburgh, distributes factual case histories of African American slaves from the Pittsburgh area who were “freed” after the civil war. The cases were used as discussion starting points during Glasclo’s African American History month presentation to district employees. (Photo by Dan Jones, PAO)

Julie Stone (left) accompanied Deputy for Small Business Sherrie Plonski at the 8th Annual Veteran’s Business Sym-posium at Kent State Univer-sity in November. (Photo contribut-ed by Julie Stone, M.J. Kirwan)

Workers prepare to set stop logs at the Berlin Lake gates in March after ex-cessive rainfall in northeast Ohio. (Photo by Jeff Hawk, PAO)

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By Chrissy Zahniser, Shenango An estimated 15,000 people lined the route of the 13th Annual City of Hermitage Holiday Light Parade in November to see emergency vehicles, bands, festive fl oats and a Corps of Engineers truck and patrol boat. Bobber the Water Safety Dog was also there and wore his Santa hat while he wished the locals “Happy Holiday” and reminded them to stay safe when around the water. It was evident the Corps was well received at the parade, because many people were heard talking about the boat, the safety dog and always wearing a life jacket. A few children recognized the trusty mascot and shouted, “Bobber! Bobber from Shenango!” Corps’ representation at the parade was a group effort among several Northern Area projects. Shenango Lake provided coordination and staffi ng, including Rangers Rich Egger and Chrissy Zahniser. Mosquito Lake provided the patrol boat, Ranger

Julie Stone from M.J. Kirwan provided water safety banners, and Acting Resource Manager Joe Arnett from Woodcock Lake suggested the Corps participa-tion in the event.

Shenango brightens Hermitage Light Parade

By Sheila Tunney, PAO Meghann Wygonik, a stu-dent employee at the Lower Mon Area Offi ce and junior in the civil engineering program at the University of Dayton (UD), completed the 2011 Walt Disney World Marathon on Jan. 10, in Or-lando, Fla. Wygonik is part of her school’s Distance 4 Dreams (D4D) service organiza-tion, which is made up of UD students who train other students, faculty and staff to run marathons and raise funds to fulfi ll the wishes of children with life-threatening diseases. Each year, D4D works with A Special Wish Foundation to send one child and his or her family to Give Kids the World Village for a week.

The village, in Kissimmee, Fla., is a break from reality for the kids because they are treated like royalty. Each visiting family receives free passes to all of the nearby central Florida theme parks, including Uni-versal Studios, Sea World, and Disney World. Toward the end of their visit, the D4D group joins the family for Disney Marathon Weekend, where runners compete in the half-marathon, marathon or “Goofy Challenge,” which is to run both a half and whole marathon in one weekend.

Wygonik said she is very proud of her 5:08 race time running her fi rst full marathon. She is employed under the Student Career Experience Program and is an avid tri-athlete.

Lower Mon marathoner fulfi lls dreams

Bobber travels down East State Street, the main business corridor of the City of Hermitage. (Photo by Terry Zahniser, Shenango Volunteer)

Lower Mon SCEP employee Meghann Wygonik poses with Goofy at Walt Disney World after running a full marathon for charity. (Photo courtesy of Kirk McWilliams, Lower Mon.)

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By Kyle Kraynak, Shenango On Jan. 29, sixteen volunteers worked through snow squalls to help Park Rangers Kyle Kraynak and Rich Egger place 150 Christ-mas trees as fi sh attractors on Shenango Lake, near the Chestnut Run Swim Beach. Boy Scout Troop #103 from Sharon, Pa., provided most of the volunteers. A total of 190 trees were donated for the project from the general public, the local Home Depot store (100 trees), and the local Giant Eagle (30 trees). The remaining trees will be placed near the Mahaney Recre-ation Area later in the year. Preparation for the project began the week before by drilling holes in the bases of the trees. Cement block and

rope was also purchased. The Boy Scouts and rangers dragged the trees onto the ice and stacked them in clumps; then they were tied together and fastened to the cement blocks. The trees will remain on the ice until spring when the ice melts, and the trees break through and sink to the bottom of the lake. Attractors are a common fi sher-ies management tool, providing structure and habitat for the fi sh in the man-made lake.

Scouts brave elements to build fi sh attractors

Above: A Scout pulls trees towards the Chestnut Run Swim Beach. Below: Ranger Kyle Kraynak instructs Boy Scout volunteers on securing trees in bundles to make fi sh at-tractors. (Photos by Rich Egger, Shenango)

Contract historian, Dr. Patrick O’Bannon, received the Excel-lence in Consulting Individual Award from the National Council on Public History for his 2009 book, “Working in the Dry: Cof-ferdams, In-River Construction, and the United States Army Corps of Engineers.” The book tracks the history of river lock construction and is a part of the Lower Mon Project’s cultural resource mitigation commitments. “Patrick deserves this recogni-tion as he did an excellent job with his research, analysis and writing of this book,” said Conrad Weiser of the district’s Environmental and Cultural Resources Section. Weiser is responsible for coordi-nating the publication of the book, including connecting the author with the people, resources and pho-tos to complete the history. The district periodically pub-lishes books as part of itsmission of documenting historic and cultural resources related to its inland navigation responsibilities. The book is free. Contact the district’s Public Affairs Offi ce at 412-395-7500 to request a copy or download it at www.lrp.usace.army.mil/pao/workinginthedry.pdf.--PAO

District history book authorrecognized

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By Scott Frechione, Real Estate In a time of decreasing budgets, the Pittsburgh District Army Corps of Engineers Real Estate Branch has developed an innovative approach to decrease operation costs by negotiat-ing in-kind services. By the beginning of the second quarter of FY11, the Real Estate Branch had already brought in more than $105,000 in support of district projects under its In-Kind Services Program. In-kind services allow the fed-eral government to lease property in exchange for services the agency might need. Typically, leases from the government stipulate monetary compensation from the individual or company leasing the property. In-kind agreements allow the lessor toprovide services, which in return, provides immediate benefi ts for the agency while reducing processing and administrative costs. “We looked at our outstanding actions and determined that we could bring in $103,000 in in-kind services for the fi scal year,” said Shekinah Bailey, Chief of the Management and Disposal Section, Real Estate Branch. “Based on our past perfor-mances, I was confi dent we wouldreach our goal.”

While many of the in-kind services customers choose to pay a project’s utility bill, others mayprovide a different service, such as restoration of property or construc-tion of new facilities that positively impact the project site. At Pike Island Locks and Dam, the in-kind services program is already being used to improve the project and the community. Shelly & Sands Inc., an asphalting company based out of Rayland, Ohio, is leas-ing land at the locks. Their 65-year land use agreement for the opera-tion and maintenance of a dike and containment area at the project has an estimated worth of $500,000. Instead of writing a check to the Corps, Shelly & Sands repaved the parking lot and boat ramps and installed dry hydrants. “It’s a win-win situation for community relations. In-kind was a great opportunity for us,” said Keith Bochard, owner of Shelly & Sands.In-kind services are not only for commercial businesses seeking to lease federal land. At Crooked Creek Lake, the program was used to benefi t the project and its visitors. The Pennsyl-vania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) provided equipment and

services which transformed and re-stored the natural environment at the Cochran Mills boat launch area. The district had agreed to lease land to PennDOT for a construction easement during highway bridge repairs and was able to negotiate for repayment in the form of a boat launch and parking lot improve-ments. PennDOT accepted these terms and completed the work in the summer of 2010. PennDOT performed above initial conditions, and the boat launch area was greatly enhanced from its efforts. Before the work was performed, the launch had a grass walkway and could only accommodate two park-ing spaces for boaters and fi shermen. Now, there is a gravel walkway and an expanded, six-space graveled parking lot. Although they have already surpassed their FY11 goal for the program by bringing in $105,000, the Real Estate branch anticipates further increasing revenue for the district with more in-kind services. They look forward to working with com-munity partners to improve district projects while reducing costs, and in doing so, they expect more win-win scenarios to come from this innova-tive program.

District in-kind services program is ‘win-win’

Before and After: Instead of paying money for the use of Corps land during construction work on the bridge pictured near Crooked Creek, the Real Estate Branch negotiated the high-quality improvements as part of the In-Kind Services Program. (Photos by Exelena Whitaker, Real Estate)

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By Sheila Tunney, PAO Shenango River Lake received a $25,000 grant under the Army Corps of Engineers’ Challenge Part-nership Handshake Program to execute its proposal to re-introduce the American chestnut back onto project lands. “This is a signifi cant addition to the Lakes and Rivers Division’s environmental stewardship pro-gram,” said Michael Loesch, the Division’s Recre-ation, Environmental Stewardship, and Environmen-tal Compliance Programs Manager. Rangers Kyle Kraynak and Rich Egger will be instrumental in getting the proposal off the ground, according to John Kolodziejski, Shenango Resource Manager, who also said they are currently formulat-ing the implementation plan. Kolodziejski said Shenango Lake’s main partner for the effort is the American Chestnut Foundation, and to a lesser degree, Pennsylvania State Univer-sity’s Cooperative Extension Offi ce.

The grant was one of only 11 awarded to Corps’ recreation sites nationwide, and is the highest amount that can be granted under the program. “Everyone is encouraged to submit proposals again next year, as there is a signifi cant payoff if a grant award is received,” said Loesch.

American chestnut proposal nets $25K grant

Chestnuts from a healthy tree. (National Park Service Photo.)

By Katie Cunningham, Water Management On Jan. 31, eighteen members of the Pittsburgh Power Response Team deployed to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, to help deal with expected widespread ice and snow. On the radar was a major winter storm stretching

‘Steeler Nation’ helps restore power to stormy nationfrom Oklahoma City to central Michigan, so FEMA activated the power team as part of a Region 5 mis-sion assignment. While deployed, the power team members worked closely with emergency responders from the Corps’ St. Louis District, the 249th Engineering Battalion from Fort Shafter, Hawaii, and IAP World-wide Services Company. Together, they assessed critical public facilities in the Ohio area and pre-pared generators for deployment. Fortunately, the storm was milder than expected, and all power team members returned to Pittsburgh within a week. The Pittsburgh District manages the national USACE emergency power program. The district’s Readiness Offi ce receives mission assignments directly from FEMA, then coordinates all of the required resources to respond to civil disasters. During the late January/early February event, the Readiness Offi ce coordinated the execution of the $6.9-million response. Employees interested in volunteering for national emergency deployments should contact the Readi-ness Offi ce.

From left to right, Jackie Martin, Pam Broglio, Mike Funk, Sandy Petre, Moe Derewecki, Larry Homich, Elaine Lisk and JimChrist represent the Steeler Nation while deployed as part of Pitts-burgh’s Power Response Team. Team members not shown: Domi-nic Basile, Marie McCullough, John Harrison, Nicholas Walten-baugh, Anne Goodman, Ronald Slezak, William Heyer, Charles Stroup, Glenn Hawkey, Mike Mazzocco, C.J. Infantino and T.J. Fichera. (Photo courtesy of Readiness Offi ce.)

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Amish workers build East Branch facility

By Dan Jones, PAO A new maintenance storage facility was recently completed at East Branch Dam. This project, however, was different than all of the other construction projects throughout the district, as Amish workers executed the construction of the building. According to Kirk McWilliams of the Lower Mon Field Offi ce, nine Amish workers completed the project Nov. 11, less than three weeks after construction began Oct. 25. The contract was awarded to Canon Sys-tems Inc., from New Kensington, Pa., in February 2010. Canon Systems then sub-con-tracted the work to Knepp Building Inc., from Conneaut Lake, Pa., which frequently employs Amish workers. The 60 feet by 80 feet building, which cost $444,000 to construct, will be used to store the maintenance equipment at East Branch Dam.

Ciccocioppo briefs engineer society on Flight 93 Memorial

On Jan. 11, Bryan Ciccocioppo, Engi-neering, spoke to the Pittsburgh Post of the Society of American Military Engineers about the Flight 93 Memorial.

Ciccocioppo is the construction manager for the memorial, which is located at the Flight 93 crash site in Somerset, Pa. Sara Hillegas, also from engineer-ing, is working on the project as well. The project falls under the auspices of the Na-tional Park Service, but the Corps of Engineers was tapped to oversee construction. The initial phase of the memorial is scheduled to be dedicated Sept. 11, this year. -- PAO

Youghiogheny tree recycling improves fi sh habitatBy Matt Slezak, Youghiogheny For more than 25 years, Youghiogheny River Lake has been recycling Christmas trees to use as part of its fi sh habitat improvement program. Each year, 100 to 150 trees are donated to the lake. Twenty-fi ve percent come from private indi-viduals who bring them to various drop-off locations around the lake. The rest are unsold Christmas trees from commercial groups. The Youghiogheny project staff coordinates with these businesses in collecting the trees. The recycling program not only saves landfi ll space but helps to protect the environment.

Trees donated to Youghiogheny River Lake by commercial groups are sometimes brought in by the truckload. (Photo by Brian Luprek, Youghiogheny)

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HeadwatersSnapshots

Above, from top to bottom: A bald eagle is shown near the Morgantown Locks and Dam. It has recently been spotted fl ying over the Hildebrand and Ope-kiska Locks and Dams as well. (Photo by Bill Stew-art, Hildebrand) A deer trapped on the ice afforded West Branch State Park Offi cer Mary Sklodowski and Paris Township Fire Department a training opportunity to conduct a successful ice rescue at M.J. Kirwan Dam, Wayland, Ohio. (Photo by Julie Stone, M.J. Kirwan) It appears that the deer at the camp ground at Berlin Lake have survived the harsh winter just fi ne. Although it is peaceful now, the staff at Berlin Lake is already prepping the campground and surrounding recreation areas for the upcoming season. (Photo by Greg Feustel, Berlin)

Pike Island Locks and Dam workers Kip Shenton, Mike Selva, Mike McArdle, Jim Kirchner, Jim Mirides and Kevin Lightner joined Maj. Gen. John Peabody, Lakes and Rivers Division Commander, during a tour of the project in December. (Photo by Sean McCann, ACE-IT)

The crane pictured is a “Spyder” mini-crawler crane and is able to travel in very tight quar-ters and then expand to a serviceable confi guration. It was one of the Corps’ maintenance innovations presented in February at the 29th Annual LRD Locks Maintenance Conference in Pittsburgh. More than 100 representatives from the Great Lakes and Ohio River Division, Mississippi Valley Division, Northwestern Division, South Atlantic Division, the Marine Design Center, Corps Headquarters, the Panama Canal Authority, and the Saint Lawrence Seaway Management Corporation were in attendance for the knowledge sharing forum. The agenda typically centers on lessons learned and innovations in equipment and processes in the Corps’ maintenance arena. (Photo by Sean McCann, ACE-IT)

Right: Turkeyfoot High School student Kellie Kinsinger shows off her work after installing the poles for Purple Martin Gourd Housing. Kellie is working with Youghiogheny River Lake Park Ranger Matt Slezak as part of her senior project. Kellie will hang the gourds on the poles in the spring in hope of attracting and establishing a colony of Purple Mar-tins at the lake. (Photo by Matt Slezak, Youghiogheny) Below: Summer Fun…Four girls enjoy tubing at Youghiogheny River Lake in this picture taken by Judy Wilson, which won third place in the Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau 2010 photography contest.

Right: More than 500 bald eagle watchers fl ocked to Kinzua Dam this year for their annual eagle watch. (Photo by Jason Bowers, Tionesta) Right, center: Mahon-ing Park Ranger Grover Pegg recently participated in a Wood Duck classroom program at Shannock Valley Elementary School in Ford City, Pa. Pegg worked with this fi fth-grade classroom to teach them about wildlife and water safety. The children were able to get hands-on experience with wildlife habitats through the construction of two cedar nest-ing boxes. While the children built the nesting boxes, they also learned about various ducks and duck habitats in the Armstrong County area. The children and their parents plan to install these boxes along the Big and Little Mahoning Creeks to create new habitats for local wood ducks. (Photo courtesy of Grover Pegg, Mahoning)

By Katie Cunningham, Water Management There’s a trio of new boats in town. Three new SeaArk boats arrived at the Pittsburgh Engineering Warehouse and Repair Station (PEW-ARS) on Neville Island, Pa., before being sent out to their permanent homes at Dashields Locks and Dam, Hannibal Locks and Dam and Braddock Locks and Dam. These work boats will replace older, outdated boats. Each one has radar, marine radios, winches for lifting materials, navigation lights, emergency lights, an on-board generator, diving ladders, side safety rails and a fi re suppression system on board. The boats will be used primarily for maintenance, diving operations and inspections. Two of the boats are 53 feet long; and are destined for Dashields and Hannibal. The third boat, at 47 feet, has been outfi tted with

Work boatsarrive at PEWARSLeft: The Dashields Locks and Dam boat is being off-loaded and lowered onto stands for the installation of its pilot house. (Photo by Russ Moore, Dashields) Below, left: Equipment mechanics and lock operators from Braddock, Dashields and Hannibal Locks and Dams, came to PEWARS for training and to help prepare the new work boats for service. Below, right: James Fregiato, Hannibal equip-ment mechanic, beams with pride beside the project’s new work boat. (Photos by Scott Edgar, Hannibal)

a special drop gate to assist with loading equipment for dam machinery. This unique boat is headed to Braddock. “Driving these boats north from their origins in Monticello, Ark., was challenging,” said Dale “Russ” Moore, Lock and Dam Equipment Mechanic Supervisor at Dashields. Two of the boats were wide enough to qualify as “super loads,” and required special permitting and a State Police escort. The upper half of each pilot house was also re-moved and strapped to the deck to minimize height during transport. Additional problems arose when high water prevented safe sea trials. However, the boats were placed in the water at PEWARS on March 28, and sea trials will begin with SeaArk’s offi cial assembly personnel present.

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By Scott Frechione, Real Estate The Pittsburgh District U.S. Army Corps of Engi-neers and the Munhall Municipal Authority are usinga non-intrusive construction technique to minimize disturbances to residents while rehabilitating a sewerline in Homestead, Pa. The project features an innovative technique that is relatively new to the Corps of Engineers and willsave both time and money, said Capt. Christopher Scott, an engineer with the Pittsburgh District’s LowerMon Project Offi ce. The $2.84-million project ispartially funded through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. The sewer line, which runs under homes, roads and businesses, will be rehabilitated with the Cured in Place Inversion Pipe (CIPP) method. The method is being used to repair more than 3,000 linear feet of pipe and is less intrusive and more environmentally friendly than the methods of the past. Faced with a tight budget, the Municipal Author-ity approached the Corps of Engineers for assistance with funding. The Corps is able to provide funding for the project through Section 219 of the Water Resources Development Act of 1992. The Act allows for federal funding of environmental infrastructureprojects in southwestern Pennsylvania. ThroughSection 219, the Corps will pay 75 percent of theproject cost while the local sponsor will pay theremaining 25 percent. The District has contracted Independent Enter-

Sewer line rehab minimizes Homestead headachesprises and Chester Engineering, both based out of Pittsburgh, to complete the project. The projected began in mid-January and is expected to be com-pleted sometime in May.

Left: Engineers from the Pittsburgh District review plans for Munhall Munici-pal Authority’s new sewer. Below, engineers and local contractors look over the sewer line. (Photos by Dan Jones, PAO)

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Pike Island replaces 47-year-old lock gatesStory by Sheila Tunney, PAO During the fall, the Pittsburgh District’s Repair Party undertook the huge task of replacing the mi-ter gates at Pike Island Locks and Dam, near Wheeling, W.Va. The gate leaves weigh ap-proximately 127 tons each for the upper and 150 tons each for lower gates, which were funded under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. Now secure, the new gates have allowed the lock to continue its half-century history of raising or lowering river traffi c to the next Ohio River pool. The old gates served the lock well, according to Lockmaster Jim Kirchner, who has worked at Pike Island for 34 years. Kirchner estimated the gates have opened and closed approximately a half million times. The lock is part of the Ohio River navigation system which has seen more than a billion tons of cargo travel to and from com-mercial enterprises, including coal companies, steel mills and power generation outfi ts. Repair Party Chief Doug Chris-tian said the massive gates were delivered to the locks on a barge (the only possible way to get the behemoths here), which travelled

up the Mississippi River to the Ohio. The gate leaves are each 5 feet thick, 66.5 feet wide and 38 feet high for the upstream end of the chamber and 44.3 feet high downstream. They were crafted by G&G Steel Inc., in Russellville, Ala., which won the contract bid in September 2008. At a total cost of more than $13 million dollars for construction, preparation and installation, the replacement gates were a major expenditure for the district. Contracting Offi cer Arlene Big-ger was involved in the process of procuring the gates which began in mid 2008. It was an interesting coordina-tion effort, according to Bigger. “The contractor was very involved,” she said. “We had to scurry around toward the end be-cause we didn’t get the Shreve,” a Louisville-based crane which had an emergency deployment else-where. The repair team instead used the Pittsburgh District-based Mon-allo III to hoist the doors and place them on the lock chamber. This was the fi rst time, Christian said, the six-year-old crane was used to replace Ohio River lock gates. “We were scheduled to have the

From left to right, Michelle Anderson, Arlene Bigger and Megan DeMarchi from the District’s contracting branch worked on the contracting process for the gates and joined the repair party at the lock on the day of the last gate lift.

Shreve; it has a bigger lift capacity and can actually pick up a gate and spin it all the way around,” said Christian. Nevertheless, he said, he was pleased with the team’s progress using the district’s smaller crane. “They did an excellent job: from the rigging to the decking on the crane and the signaling. It’s really critical when picking up that kind of weight and moving that kind of fl eet around--and the tow boat operator on the M/V Evanick was excellent! It was a good team effort,” Christian said. The team spent several weeks at Pike Island after the installation making adjustments, ensuring the gates were plumbed and tensioned correctly, as well as setting and ad-justing the miter and coin blocks.

Left: Jack Kinneman, designated signal man for all the lifts of the gates, old and new. Center: The Repair Party maneuvers the new Pike Island Locks and Dam downstream river wall gate. The gate was spun around while getting it ready for installation. Right: Welders David Heck (left) and Roy Melius, weld on the anchorage for the new gates. (Photos by Doug Christian, Repair Party)

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Opportunity bites! Trout fi shing in the ‘Yough’By Matt Slezak, Youghiogheny Recreational opportunities are still avail-able at in the dead of winter. In fact, some of the best fi shing can be found at Pittsburgh District projects. When most of the lakes are long frozen over and local rivers and streams are par-tially frozen and nearly inaccessible due to ice and high water, the regulated release of water from district reservoirs provides prime waters and an opportunity to fi sh. Youghiogheny River Lake’s outfl ow is one such spot and part of a one-mile sec-tion remaining open nearly all year long. It is stocked with rainbow, brown and golden trout by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and the Chestnut Ridge Chapter of Trout Unlimited. Fishing pressure is greatly reduced at this time, but many brave the colder tempera-tures. The only major forms of competition come from the ducks and bald eagles that

A man goes trout fi shing in the middle of the winter at Youghiogheny River Lake. (Photo by Brian Luprek, Youghiogheny)

frequent the area in the winter. More information on fi shing opportunities in Pennsylvania can be found online at: http://fi shandboat.com/mpag1.htm.

Northern Area rangers recruit at job fair

Park Rangers Jason Bowers (left) and Supervisor Pete O’Connell talk to a stu-dent during the Slippery Rock job fair.

Story and photo by Kyle Kraynak, Shenango In December, Park Rangers Jason Bowers, Tionesa Lake, and Kyle Kraynak, Shenango Lake, teamed with Northern Area Man-ager Pete O’Connell, for the 10th Annual Slippery Rock University Park and Resource Management Job Fair. Sixteen applicants from Slip-pery Rock University, Geneva College and Butler County Com-munity College were interviewed for 2011 Student Temporary Em-ployment Program (STEP) park ranger positions. Along with the Army Corps of Engineers, state and federal agencies in attendance included Delaware State Parks, the Penn-sylvania Department of Conser-

vation and Natural Resources, the U.S. Forest Service, and the National Park Service. Candi-dates were interviewed for STEP positions at reservoirs in both the Northern and Southern Areas of the Pittsburgh District. STEP Park Rangers perform a variety of tasks including camper registration, recreation area and lake patrol, maintenance, visitor assistance, wildlife management and water safety awareness.

The District’s social media program is growing. Our lakes and recreation areas have been joining the social networking fold over the past couple of months and keeping their fans up to date on lake conditions, activities, people and wildlife. You can join the conversation by searching for these projects on www.facebook.com:

Shenango River Lake Youghiogheny River Lake MJ Kirwan Dam & Reservoir Mahoning Creek Lake Conemaugh River Lake Berlin Lake Loyalhanna Lake

Look who’s‘Facebooking’

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Story and Photos by Scott Frechione, Real Estate In recognition of National Engineers Week, the Army Corps of Engineers’ Pittsburgh District hosted local high school students interested in engineering at the Federal Building. On March 9 and 10, 25 students from Seton La-Salle, Riverview, Allderdice, Montour, McKeesport, Mt. Lebanon, and West Allegheny high schools were given a real-world scenario to analyze and solve. The students were given the 2008 emergency scour repair at Allegheny Lock and Dam 2 as their case study. After engineers Sean Weston, Civil De-sign section, and Katie Cunningham, Water Mana-genent, explained the technical details of the prob-lem, the students broke up into groups and began to brainstorm and analyze ways to fi x this emergency problem. Each group had an engineer by their side to help answer questions and analyze the problem. After all groups had worked out a solution, they presented their ideas to the room and answered questions, just as they would have if they were engineers presenting a technical proposal. The group with the best pro-posal received Army Corps T-shirts. “I was really impressed with how smart these kids were,” Cunningham said afterwards. “They did a great job of coming up with ideas, and they asked some really insightful questions. I think that hav-ing them solve a real-world scenario really engaged

them, and Sean did an excellent job of making the complicated engineering concepts easy to under-stand. Afterward, a lot of kids asked us questions about our own engineering careers and education, and you could see that many of them were thinking about becoming engineers themselves someday.” The students also were assisted by district en-gineers Paula Boren and Dave Buccini, Technical Design, James Shibata, Geotechnical, as well as Public Affairs Specialist Dan Jones. Lt. Col. Randall Wheeler, Deputy Engineer, and Jeanine Hoey, act-ing chief of Engineering, were also present to give the students an overview of how the Army Corps of Engineers impacts their community. This was the fi rst time the Pittsburgh District decided to host such an event.

James Shibata, right, helps a group of high school students design a way to fi x the scour-damaged dam.

Students solve scourproblem duringEngineers Week

An area high school student presents his team’s solution for fi xing a dam scour problem for an exercise during the District’s celebration of National Engineers Week in March.

14

Employee Update

GS:Sheila TunneyPublic Affairs

Offi ce

Wage Grade:Willie Maynard

New Cumberland Locks and Dam

Employees of the 1st Quarter

GS: Erin Bosetti

Business Resources

Wage Grade:Herb StottlemeirM.J. Kirwan Dam

& Reservoir

Employees of the 2nd Quarter

There were many retirements since our last issue. You’ll be missed:

Jack Bayorek, Montgomery Locks and Dam, Dec. 31 Bruce Disantis, Hannibal Locks and Dam, Dec. 31 Diane Goodman, Berlin Lake, Dec. 31Patricia Monheim, Natural Resource Management Branch, Dec. 31 Darrell Robson, Pike Island Locks and Dam, Dec. 31 James Sekela, Dam Safety Branch, Dec. 31Thomas Strella, Mosquito Lake, Dec. 31 Elmer Stupak, Pike Island Locks and Dam, Dec. 31 Harry Durinzi, Point Marion Lock and Dam, Jan. 1 John Kochuga, Locks and Dam 4, Monongahela River, Jan. 1Joseph McPherson, Pike Island Locks and Dam, Jan. 1Swartzfager Parks, Tionesta Lake, Jan. 1 David Walters, Hannibal Locks and Dam, Jan. 1

Upcoming retirements include:

Edward Deberson, Braddock Locks and Dam, March 31Joseph Elwell, Construction Management Branch, April 4 Marcia Haberman, Regulatory Branch, April 2 Harold Kendall, Montgomery Locks and Dam, April 30

Best Wishes - Retirements

by Sheila Tunney, PAO Lt. Col. Randall Wheeler and Janelle Kaufold, both of the Executive Offi ce, spoke to district employees about their deployments during a brown-bag lunch in November. More than 60 people crammed into the Port of Pittsburgh room at the district offi ce along with employees from remote sites who called in to hear the pair describe pay, work and day-to-day life while deployed to Afghanistan. Kaufold was home on leave after extending her tour of duty to one year, while Wheeler had recently redeployed from a six-month tour. The district is currently required to have eight people deployed, but at the time14 members were serv-ing in Afghanistan and Iraq. (Cur-rently, 11 employees are deployed.) Current employees can access information about deployments on the District’s internal Deployment Information web site on SharePoint.

Deployment pros, cons discussed at brown bag lunch

Lt. Col. Randall Wheeler and Janelle Kaufold share their experiences while deployed to Afghanistan with District employees. (Photo by Jeff Hawk, PAO)

The Pittsburgh District scored four awards in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ annual jour-nalism contest, the Herbert A. Kassner Journalism Competition. The SharePoint home page took second place in Category F/Websites; Suzanne Estock’s LDP class of 2010 story took third place in Category P/Contribution by a Stringer; Headwaters Up-date took third place in Category D/Newsletters; and Jeff Hawk’s photo of repair work at AR Lock and Dam 2 received an honorable mention in Category O/Photogra-phy. Congratulations to all of the many contributors who help tell the Corps story and make the SharePoint site and Headwaters Update a success.--PAO

Kassner Kudos!

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Photo essay by Sheila Tunney, PAO U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District rangers practiced self-defense moves in Washington, Pa., on the second day of theirannual Visitor Assistance Refresher Training held March 8 – 10.

See more pictures and commentary on the District’s Facebook page, www.facebook.com/PittsburghUSACE.

Corps Rangers learn basicself-defense during refresher trainingconference

Clockwise from above: Crooked Creek Park Ranger Melissa Salsgiver (left) tests the uncomfortableness and power of two fi ngers pushed under an attacker’s collar bone on Em-ily Potter (Youghiogheny). Sensei Gino Bovo easily brought down Eric Miller (Southern Area ranger) using smart tech-niques designed to use as little energy as possible when evading or subduing an attacker. Rodney Daum (Kinzua, left) looks on as Sensei Bovo demonstrates an exchange of pow-er on Mike Estock (Tygart). Eric Miller practices self-defense moves on Jeff Tolar, Resource Manager, Stonewall Jack-son Lake, under the guidance of Sensei Gino Bovo and the watchful eye of Kevin Nogroski, Youghiogheny River Lake.