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The New York

District TimesNov. / Dec. 2003 Vol. 28, No. 6 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New York District

Page 9 Inside ...

9-11-01

In honor of lives lost

Moritz’s first skipper is Walter Grauling. The

Moritz has a beam of 18.5 feet and displaces 30 tons

and can sustain speeds of 30 knots.

The fleet of District vessels is homeported a

the Caven Point facility in New Jersey. Alan Dorfman

is the chief, Physical Support Branch and responsible

for the Corp s’ vessel activity. “The Moritz is a state-ofthe-art vessel designed to conduct hyd rograph ic sur

veys in connection w ith operation, maintenance and

new construction in and around New York Harbor,”

said Dorfman, who is very enthusiastic about the

Moritz’s arrival.

The vessel was named for Kurt L. Moritz, a

former mate with the District’s drift collection vesse

Gorham who retired in 1977 after 27 years, and who

died in 1998. Robert Moritz, a supply technican with

the Corp s at the Caven Point office, is the son of Kur

L. Moritz.

Page 4

Photo:PeterSh

ugert

Photo:Vince

Elias

Moritz joins District Fleet of Corps vessels

(Above) Walter Grauling is the Moritz’s firstskipper.

(Right) Col. John B. O’Dowd, Supervisor of

the N.Y. Harbor on the weather deck of the

Moritz as she passes the Statue of Liberty.

New York District’s new est survey vessel, the

Moritz, joined the Caven Point fleet in

September.

Col. John B.

O’Dowd, District

Engineer and Sup er-

visor of New York H ar-bor, don ned a N ew York

Giants hardhat and wasted no time in

taking th e 58-foot vessel for a test in the ha r-

bor. With O’Dowd atop the bridge, the Moritz

whizzed past the Statue of Liberty as video footage

was shot from the sister vessel Dobrin wh ich was also

underway.



U.S. Army Corps of Engineers • New York District2

of Engineers

Best wishes for the holidaysNew York District TimesNewsletter of the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,New York District

November/December 2003

Commander andDistrict Engineer

Col. John B. O’Dowd

Chief, Public Affairs

Peter H. [email protected]

Editor & Graphic DesignVince Elias

[email protected]

- 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 the

Department of the Army or thiscommand. All photos, unlessotherwise credited, are officialU.S. Army photos.

US Army Corps

New York District

®

Col. John B. O’DowdDistrict Engineer

Colonel’s Corner

As we p repare to celebrate the holidays withfamily and friends, it’s an ideal time to reflect onsome of the great things we have d one this year.

New York District continues to su pp ort theGlobal War on Terrorism. Fourteen of our peoplehave joined 2,000 Corps of Engineers employees deployed to Afghanistan,Iraq and Turkey to p rovide essential supp ort for our troops and oversee in-

frastructure repairs for the local people. Nine have return ed hom e, and fivemore are prepar ing to deploy. Here at home, we continu e homeland securityefforts.

As our nation’s military changes to meet new threats, New York District maintains building programs to create and upgrade needed facili-

ties for our current an d futu re warfighters. The Soldier Sup port Center atFort Drum is complete, and the Battle Simulation Center for the 10th Moun-tain Division is almost finished . At the U.S. Military Academy, sold iers andtheir families are occup ying 50 un its of renovated housing an d more u nitsare nearing completion. The cad ets are using Kimsey Athletic Center, andconstruction is ongoing at the Arv in Cad et Physical Development Center.

Training, maintenance and communications facilities to support the C-17program are un der construction at McGuire Air Force Base.

The highlight of the District’s Civil Works Progr am is the deep eningof New York H arbor. More than $200 million sup ported that w ork this year,

work that is vital to the economy of not only our region but of the entirenation. Other work sup ports prevention and control of flooding that, un -checked, could w reak havoc on our friend s and neighbors. In fact sevenDistrict employees dep loyed following H urr icane Isabel to provide essen-tial housing, debris and coordination support for our southern neighborsdevastated by that storm.

Be prou d of wh at you h ave accomp lished th is year – I certainly am. Iencourage you to relax and enjoy the holiday season, and make the m ost of time with family and friend s. Please remember that there are more than200,000 military an d civilian p ersonn el who w ill not be spend ing their holi-

day s at home this year. And wh en you return to your d uties in the new year,be ready to w ork. We are a nation at war, and it’s not a war that w ill endsoon. The war started here, and w e’re a part of it.

Essayons!

Colonel John B. O’Dowd

District Engineer



3The New York District Times • Winter 2003

Col. (and Chef) John B. O’Dowd, Dis-

trict Engineer, helped Chef Holly Cleeg

on ‘Fox and Friends’ assemble some

tasty dishes on a cooking show in N o-

vember.

A National Estuaries Day event drew over 150 people in Elizabeth,

N.J. in Septem ber. The event was co-hosted by Future City, Inc. and

the City of Elizabeth .

Col. John B. O’Dowd, District Engineer and staff mem bers d iscussed

New York District’s role in nav igation and environmen tal restora-

tion in the New York and New Jersey Harbor estuary.

Opening remarks w ere provided by representatives from the office

of the mayor along w ith Congressmen Robert Menend ez (NJ-13CD)

and Donald M. Payne (NJ-10CD).

Corps and Gowanus residentscelebrate annual Brooklyn event

District joins community for National Estuaries Day

District Engineertakes his culinary

skills to the airwaves

District shines in community relations spotlight

A large group of Corps experts comprised of environmental-

ists and interns from var ious sections of New York Distric

par ticipated in a coastal ecosystem workshop in October. The

group traveled to a wetlands area in New Jersey to discuss

ecosystem restoration and to photograp h the area.

Environmentalists examine theecosystem and hold workshop

Lt. Col. Kurt Hoffman, Deputy command er add resses a large crowd

at the Gowanu s comm un ity celebration in Brooklyn, N.Y. New York

District is involved in the Gowan us Canal p roject and District volun-

teers routinely participate in clean u p activities in the neighborhood.

(Photos:PeterShugert)




Archaeologists participate in historic excavationBy Joanne Castagna, PPMD

Photos by Vince Elias

(above) Nancy Brighton discusses

the project with fellow archaeolo-

gist colleagues.

(right) Victoria Gross of EEO

observes the artifacts.

In September 2003, New York District employee

Victoria Gross qu ietly entered a large, cool room in thehistoric Ham ilton U.S. Customs Hou se and Museum

in Lower Man hattan as if she were entering a church.

The room w as filled w all-to-wall with large crates. She

gently rested her palm to her chest and gazed at them ,

knowing they are filled with the hu man remains from

New York City’s 18th centu ry African Bur ial Ground.

About the same time, Angela Grimes, a St.

Louis District employee, unwound from her day by

watching the local news. She was awed by the

broadcaster’s report regarding a grand ceremony for

reburying those remains.Both w omen w ere witnesses to one of the most

important archaeological discoveries of the 20th cen-

tury.

“As an Am erican of African ancestry, it was a

momentous occasion to be where the remains and ar-

tifacts are stored and to observe them being meticu-

lously hand led and examined by archaeologists from

New York District, St. Louis District, and How ard Uni-

versity,” said Gross, the African American Special Em-

phasis Program Manager of New York District. “It was

insightful and gave me a sense of serenity.”

“ I knew about the burial ground, but until I

saw the new s report, I didn’t know that my organiza-

tion was leading this effort, ensuring the success of

documenting the remains,” said Grimes, of St. Louis

District’s Information Man agement Office.

New York and St. Louis d istricts were key p lay-

ers on the African Burial Ground Project, one of the

General Services Administration’s (GSA) priority

projects.

In 1991, GSA’s Northeast & Caribbean Regionheadquar ters in New York City began excavating for a

new federal government building in Lower Manhat-

tan, at the intersection of Broadw ay and Duane Street.

The excavation un earthed an 18th century Af-

rican bur ial ground .

GSA hired archaeologists to investigate the

find. They exhumed more than 400 adult and child

skeletal remains in partially decayed wood ed coffins,(continued on next page)

plus scores of artifacts in-

cluding coins, shells, and

beads. The remains were

found wearing shrouds fas-

tened with brass straight

pins and jewelry. The cof-

fins were closely stacked in

layers, going down as deep as 23 feet below street

level.

The presence of an African bu rial ground in

Lower Manhattan was known from historic maps. It

was believed to encompass five to six acres (about

five present-day city blocks) and to hold up to 20,000

burials. However, historic city documen ts and GSA’s

Environmen tal Impact Statement, conducted before

the excavation, ind icated that remnants of the bur ial

ground at the site were u nlikely because construction

du ring the 1800s wou ld have removed what remained

of it.

Tests condu cted by the archaeologists revealed

that portions of the burial ground were actuallydeeper than expected, and apparently were un affected

by 19th century d evelopment.

Excavation of the new federal government

building w as halted and about 10,000 square feet of

the bu rial ground was fenced off, grassed over, and

protected. Building construction eventu ally resum ed,

and human remains moved during the excavation

were carefully cataloged and stored for reburial.




Management of Archaeological Collections in St. Louis

District. The center is the largest single organization

in the Department of Defense dedicated to address-

ing the curation of archeological collections on a na-

tional scale.

“We work w ith other Corps d istricts and agen-

cies on the p reservation, storage, and management ofarcheological and historical materials and associated

documentat ion,” said Trimble. “Our success is based

on the relationships we have w ith other districts and

agencies.”

Trimble has worked with GSA on other ar-

chaeological projects. “Many are u naw are that an thro-

pology and archaeology are sensitive issues,” he said.

“My depar tment has worked n um erous projects, and

it was an h onor to be called on to assist with th is one.”

Trimble worked w ith Howard Un iversity and

GSA to set up an archaeological lab at the Hamilton

U.S. Customs House and Mu seum in Lower Manhat-

tan. GSA also asked the Corps to be technical advis-

ers on the p roject. Emp loying USACE’s principles of

virtual teaming, Trimble called on the N ew York Dis-

trict for a set of local eyes and ears.

“For this to work efficiently, I needed some-

one in the area that knew the p roject,” said Trimble. It

wou ld call for num erous weekly and mon thly meet-

ings to ensure his plans were executed , and th e cost

in travel and time wou ld not be feasible for the Corps

or GSA. “I was aw are that N ancy Brighton, lead ar-

chaeologist with New York District, had an intimate

know ledge of N ew York archaeological sites. Nancy’s

efforts were exceptional. She definitely became my

right hand du ring this project.”

(continued on next page)

290 Broad way w as comp leted in 1994, leaving

the remainder of the burial ground untouched. The

burial groun d is on the east side of 290 Broad way, and

is bounded by Duane and Elk Streets. Ten thousand

burials are believed to be 30 feet below the ground

surface.

Historic Excavation (Cont’d. from page 4)

In 1993, the

burial ground w as

dec l a red a Na-

t ional Historic

Landmark and

GSA mad e plans to

preserve the burial

ground. The

agency funded re-

search to examine

the findings to gainins ight in to the

lives of 18th cen-

tury enslaved Afri-

can Americans ,

and m ade plans to

develop a memo-

r ia l and publ ic

edu cat ion center

beside the burial ground with the assistance of the Na-

tional Park Service, and hold a rebu rial ceremon y.

In 1993, GSA asked How ard University, Wash-ington, D.C., to conduct scientific analysis of the hu-

man remains and artifacts before they could be

reburied. GSA requested that the u niversity create three

reports, documenting th e human remains’ skeletal bi-

ology, history, and archeology.

The university took the human remains to

Howard University’s Cobb Laboratory for examina-

tion, and also established a lab in the World Trade

Center ’s Building 6 to hou se and examine the ar tifacts.

The artifacts were still being stored in Build ing

6 when the WTC was destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001.Amazingly, many of the shelves holding the artifacts

remained standing, and most of the artifacts were re-

covered by the Federal Emergency Management

Agency.

After Sept. 11, GSA searched for a suitable

curation facility. Because of h is exceptional reputa tion,

the agency called on Dr. Michael Trimble, anthrop olo-

gist and director of the U.S. Arm y Corps of Engineer ’s

Mand atory Center of Expertise for the Curation and

New York District archaeologistLynn Rakos meticulously cata-

logues the artifacts.

Archaeologist Christopher Ricciardi holds a musket ball

which was discovered in one of the graves.




This summer, Trimble asked

Brighton to go to H oward Universitywith the St. Louis District team to su-pervise inventory of the human re-mains.

“I supervised the HowardUniversity advanced osteology stu-den ts and the St. Louis osteologists asthey confirmed that all of the remainsremoved from the bu rial ground were

returned for reburial,” said Brighton.“This process also confirmed that the

da t a had been reco rded by t heHow ard University scientists to allowthem to prep are the skeletal biology, history, and arche-ology reports. These reports had to be techn ically profi-

cient and complete because the human remains andartifacts were going to be reburied. This data needed tobe above rep roach because it will be the only informa-tion available to analyze in the futu re.

“The osteology students p reviously analyzed theremains to gather inform ation on the life of these first-generation African Americans,” said Brighton. “The stu-dents tried to find out the health problems, diseases,

and working conditions of these people who w ere en-slaved. Disease, malnutrition, and work-related stressare evidenced in th e bones.”

During the summ er, the Bronx Council for theArts, working w ith the Corps and H oward University,matched the human remains with coffins speciallymanufactured in Ghana, Africa, for this project. Eachside of the coffin was intricately carved with tr ad itional

West African symbols and scenes. BCA wrapped eachindividua l in linen before placing him or her in a coffin.

Brighton was Trimble’s principal assistant andlocal liaison. The tw o, along w ith many other person-nel, worked as a virtual team for the last two years toensu re the project’s success.

“I acted as a technical project manager and pro-

vided local expertise and representation,” said Brighton.“I oversaw the work conducted at the lab at the Cus-toms House, and m ade su re all project elements were

completed. This involved coordinating the AfricanBurial Ground team meetings that in-cluded archaeologists from New Jer-sey and New York, GSA personnel inLower Manhattan , various regulatoryagencies, members of the AfricanAmerican community, and otherpro ject stakeholders.”

Before reburial could take p lace, some of theartifacts were ph otographed and replicated by arti

sans and conservators at the Colonial WilliamsburgFounda tion, in cooperation w ith the National ParkService, for the education center GSA will establishbeside the bu rial ground memorial.

Archaeologists from N ew York District prepared the artifacts found with each individual forplacement in the appropriate coffin. The artifactswere carefully w rapped in tissue p aper, which BCA

then wrapped in linen and placedwithin each coffin. Also placed withthe bodies were “letters from the ancestors” written by members of theAfrican American community.

The reburial ceremony w as athree-day event that commenced a

Howard University in WashingtonD.C. and culminated in New YorkCity. The “Rites of Ancestral Return”began Sept. 30 at Howard University

Four ceremon ial coffins carrying the remains of an adu lt male, anadult female, and two children weretransported to several cities on thei

journey back to New York City. Cer

emonies took place at every stop includ ing Baltimore; Wilmington, Del.

Philadelph ia, and N ewark, N .J.At Newark the coffins were transported to Jer

sey City where they were placed on a boat. On Oct3, the boat carried them up the New York Harbortoward Lower Manhattan and Wall Street where theslaves originally entered New York City in the 17th

and 18th centuries.

From Wall Street, ceremonial coffins were

transported by horse-drawn carriages to the buriaground. They were placed inside seven large African mahogany bu rial crypts manufactured in Ghana

The remains from the African Burial Ground werereburied Oct. 4.

Trimble reflects back on the p roject. “This is agreat example of people in the Corps trusting oneanother and one an other ’s capabilities.”

“Knowing the remains are being re-buried intheir rightful place truly pleased my soul,” said Gross

“This is tru ly govern men t at its best.” Grimes said.

Historic Excavation (cont’d from page 5)

Lead archaeologists Nancy Brighton

and Kirsten Davis carefully catalogue

artifacts at the museum in Lower Man-

hattan.




Fernando Bautista, 7-year veteran

with N ew York District returned from a four

month d uty assignment in supp ort of Opera-

tion Iraqi Freedom .

Working as an architect deployedwith a Forward Engineer Support Team,

Bautista, now of CENAU, was involved in

master plann ing for a irfields, assessing

buildings for safety and u sefulness, and gen-

erating floor plans of existing bu ildings.

It is not just the contribution of his

team to the war effort that gives Bautista a

reason to feel pride. It is the sense that he

has in his way helped strike back for the at-

tacks of Sept. 11, 2001, part icular ly on the World Trade

Center.

“I’m a New Yorker, and I feel great abou t it,”

the 20-year resident of the Big App le said.

A building designer for seven years w ith New

York District, Bau tista was one of a grou p of architects

and engineers working feverishly on final deadline for

a complicated facility design on Sept. 11, 2001.

“We were w orking aroun d the clock in the ar-

chitectural section office on the end fiscal year tha t

New Yorker volunteers for overseas duty

Fernando Bautista

spent many years with

New York District work-

ing in Engineering.

was coming to a close,” said Bautista. He

heard a big bang and felt the building shake

“I could see the upper floors of the North

Tower, and th e gaping hole between th e 80th

and 100

th

floors.”Bautista would not learn until days

later that one of the fire trucks carried the

fiancé of a niece to what w ould be his las

emergency response. Christopher Santora

would perish as a hero with the first fire

fighters to enter the N orth skyscraper.

Baustista became restless, and after a

year took a job with the Corp s in Wiesbaden

Germany. He volun teered in Janu ary 2003

and joined a Forward Engineer Support Team. He and

the team dep loyed to Kuw ait at Doha in March, justas combat began.

“I really experienced being a p art of the great

est Army in the w orld,” said Bautista. “We were su p-

por ting our troops. And now I also feel I accomp lished

something personal for the Army. It has been one o

the greatest things I have done in m y professional life,”

Bautista said. “I am an Am erican, I am a New Yorker

I had to do something.”

(Source: Grant Sadler, CENAU-PA)

New York District’s Veteran football team

defeated the Intern team th ree straight times this

season by scores of 35-14; 30-7; and 28-14 respec-

tively.

The scrimmages were held at Fort Hamilton’s

Doubleday Field. Two games of touch and one

flag game w ere played.

Veterans Jason Shea and Frank Verga

made spectacular plays on defense and quarter-back John Downing h it Verga on offense as a wid e out

for big scores in the end zone.

Cliff Jones made a big play on defense and

blocked a p ass thwar ting the Interns from getting big

yardage. Later in the first game, the spu ttering Intern

team was granted some veteran leadersh ip, and finally

got the ball into the end zone on a quick pass from

Veteran QB Ed Wrocenski, who opted to play on the

Intern team and help them get some points on the

board.

Veterans lock horns with interns on the gridiron

Veterans. (l-r) Vince Elias, Frank Verga, Cliff Jones, Lenny Hous-

ton, John Downing, Freddy Bilboa; (kneeling) Jason Shea, and

Ed Wrocenski. Matt Houston (not shown).

Five members of the In-

tern team. (l-r) Anthony

Schiano, Rafal Turek,

John Schinn, Ken

Peterson and Mike Hogg.

(Photos: Matt Houston)




Employees lauded for superior peformanceIn October, over 25 New York District emp loyees of the Staten Island landfill / World Trad e Center

debris recovery team were recognized by Col. John B. O’Dowd , District Engineer for their ou tstanding supp ortto a crucial Corps operation that was established to manage debris removal from Manha ttan to Staten Island forinspection.

From 2001 to 2002, the Corps managed debris remova l operations around the clock at the 160-acre site ofthe Staten Island landfill. Thousand s of tons of debris from three collapsed skyscrapers and adjacent damaged

structures was removed from the World Trade Center site.

App roximately 1.62 million tons of d ebris and steel were processed du ring the operation. The operation

lasted alm ost 10 mon ths. At the height of the op eration som e 7,000 tons of material were p rocessed each d ay, 24hour s a day, seven days a w eek.

Award Recipients

Meritorious Civilian ServiceAwardDavid Leach, CO

Superior Civilian ServiceAwardThomas Harnedy, CO

Paula Higgins, SA

Commander’s Award forCivilian ServiceKingsley Findlay, CO

Mark Kucera, COJames Parks, CO

Eugene Urbanik, CO

Achievement Medal for CivilianServiceGeorge Van Cook, CO

Michael Johnson, CONeal Kolb, CO

Anthony Mustillo, CO

Certificate of AppreciationBetzaida Andujar, RM

Jon Chew, ENRichard Cicchetti, CO

Diane Deptula, HRHarry Donath, ENEmily Eng, EN

Robert Goldfarb, LM

Patrick Nejand, COAbraham Portalatin, SA

Neil Ravensbergen, COThomas Roche, CO

Viet Tran, CO

Andrew Henning, LM

Ellen Higgins, OPKen Johnson, CO

Joe Kuleszynski, IRWill Kulick, IRChi Lau, EN

Monique Wiggins, RM

In September, New York District began con-

struction on the Hud son River Poughkeepsie project

that w ill stabilize the eroding east bank of the H ud son

River in the town of Pough keepsie, N.Y. The project,au thor ized u nd er Section 14 of the Flood Control Act

of 1946, will prevent ar eas of the shoreline from reced-

ing as m uch as 1.5 feet per year in certain par ts of the

river.

The plan consists of installing steel sheet pil-

ing and creating new gabion structures and sections

of riprap , while maintaining the existing ones. A ga-

bion structure is a wall of rocks held together by a cage

or screen of meta l. These structures will help preserve

over 1,100 feet of shoreline along the Hu dson River.The

Project to stabilize Hudson River banks

Civil Works

By John R. Schinn, Planning Division

main benefits to Pou ghkeepsie includ e the protection

of two boathouses and a local pump ing station, which

provides the city w ith dr inking water. Other benefits

include the creation of secure anchorages for floatingdocks and the prevention of silt build-up in the ad ja-

cent deep-water habitat of short-nosed sturgeons.

Careful attention has been given by the Corps’ envi-

ronmental scientists to protect these sturgeons that

spaw n in late April in the lower Hu dson.

The project delivery team members are Karl

Ahlen, project manager ; Don Braun , Stu Chase, Marty

Goff, Ken Johnson, John Killeen, David Rackmales and

Kim Rightler.




District promotes cultural awarenessNew York District’s cultural cuisine connoisseurs had

the opp ortunity to tantalize their pa lates du ring Cultural Di-

versity Day Oct. 31.

Arranged by EEO, the cafeteria seating area in theFederal building was turned into a smorgasbord bu ffet. The

food w as prepared by District volunteers who shared sam-

plings of their favorite recipes w ith their Corps colleagues.

Col. John B. O’Dowd, District Engineer opened the

festivities and welcomed gu ests before noshing on a var iety

of delicacies.

“Cultural Diversity Day began four years ago to com-

memorate the diverse cultures which make up our great

coun try,” said Vikki Gross, of EEO. “N ew York Distr ict is as

diverse as N ew York City, and there is no better way than to

share ind ividual cultu res with a food sampling of ethnic reci-

pes.”

Employees volunteered their time to also work on

the serving line which had an at-

tractive array of piping hot en-

trees , s ide dishes and baked

desserts.

A raffle was also held.

Winners received beverage mu gs

and bal l caps containing the

Corps logo that were handed outto winners by Elain Shipman of

RM.

“As evidenced by the big

turnout, several employees par-

ticipated this year, which contrib-

uted to the event being a huge

success,” said Gross.

Photos:Vince

Elias

Above (l-r) FranklinRodriguez, LoisBorroum, Sandra Gaffneyand Cliff Jones dish outthe delicacies along theserving line.

(left) Wedad Youssefpiles her plate withcontinental cuisinesamples.

(left) Vikki Gross

serves some savorysamples to Paul

Tumminello as hesavors the smell of

the continentalcuisine.

(right) Marty Goffhands out fresh-baked

dessert samples.




District awards contract for major construction project

(Photo:Vince

Elias)

Project delivery team (l-r) Salvatore Chiommino (CO), Deirdre Payne (OC), David Chew

(EN), Richard Field, (Picatinny), John Alaskewicz (EN), Natasha Hayes (EN), Tom Sessa

(EN), Claudio Sang (EN), Stan Bloom (EN), Thelma Manning (Picatinny), Col. John B. O’Dowd

(DE), Kathleen Hirschy (SBA), Prospero Uybarreta (SBA), Hirani Engineering Rep., George

Makhoul (MES Contracting), Michael Paduano, (Picatinny), Perry Pang (EN), Johnny Martinez

(CO), John Chew (EN) and Vinod Kapoor (Picatinny DPW). (Not pictured) Jeffrey Frye, project

manager, John Downing (PPMD); Edward Lew (CO), Maj. David Freedman (CT), and Ella

Snell (CT).

By JoAnne Castagna, PPMD

New York District awarded its largest 8(a) con-tract in Septem ber to a joint ventu re firm to design an dconstruct a state-of-the-art, high energy p ropellant for-mulation facility in Picatinn y, N.J. The $16.5 million8(a) contract was award ed to H irani/ MES, JV, of Brook-lyn, N.Y. to perform the w ork.

The facility will be pa rt of the Research, Devel-opm ent and Engineering Comm and at the 6,500-acrePicatinny site. The facility will consist of 18 build ingswithin the comp lex to carry out a ll stages of propel-lant developm ent for Army armament. Presently, thereare 34 buildings where this work is performed. Ac-cording to Jeffrey Frye, p roject manager, the n ew facil-ity is expected to be completed by 2006, and willmodernize and improve efficiency.

“What m akes this 8(a) contract award un iqueis the size of the contract value going to one firm. Usu-ally an 8(a) contract is awarded at $2 million to $5 mil-lion. This one is $16.5 million,” said Frye. “Thisdem onstrated that w e have comp etent 8(a) firms thatcan comp ete for this type of contract as well as a con-tract of a higher d ollar valu e.”

An 8(a) contract is awarded to a small busi-ness that h as been certified by th e Small Business Ad-ministration.

“This type of contract can be used for any nu m-

ber of services. The Department of Defense must makea certain percentage of contract aw ards to small busi-nesses each fiscal year,” said Kathleen Hirschy, theCorp s’ New York District Dep uty for Small Business.

Normally two separate contractors perform thedesign and construction. The firmwill accomp lish both. Building sucha facility requires genera l knowledgeof propellant formulation. This be-ing the case, the project deliveryteam consists of experts from NewYork, Nor folk and Omaha Districts;Picatinny’s Public Works and Garr i-son comm and s to perform researchto d evelop p roject requirements. “Tocreate the request for prop osal, theproject delivery team n eeded to dotheir homework in order to be ableto write the scope of work,” saidFrye.

“This is not a standard de-sign. We needed to understand in-side and out what the functions of the facilities entailed, including

safety design requirements to develop appropriatespecifications to clarify the scope of work. This re-quired the team to conduct a great deal of researchand coordination.”

Early in th e Solicitation p rocess, people fromthe d istrict’s small business office and contracting d i-vision coord inated with th e Small Business Adm inis-tration and cond ucted a m arket survey to various 8(a)firms. “The results of this survey identified the poten-tial list of firms that wou ld su bmit p roposals, givingthe p roject delivery team confidence that th ere wou ldbe adequ ate competition, and that an 8(a) contract pro-curement wou ld be successful. After careful consid-eration of the firms who p roposed, Hirani/ MES, JVhad the lowest cost of the techn ically acceptable pro-posa ls,” said H irschy.

According to Frye, acquiring a contractor u n-der an 8(a) design-build contract can be beneficial tothe District in m any w ays.

“Having a single contractor performing the de-sign and construction provid es the Governm ent bet-ter accountability for resolving design issues duringconstruction as well as aid in increasing project effi-ciency since the p roject would be designed and con-structed by the same contractor,” said Frye. “Whenyou have two separate contractors performing thedesign and construction it can take longer to complete

a project as opposed to having a single contractor.”He noted that 8(a) contract awards also help fulfillsmall business utilization goals of the Depar tment ofDefense that encourages the use of these contracts,making opportunities available to small businessfirms.”




Christopher Ricciardi,

project archaeologist in

the Environmental Sec-

tion of the Planning Divi-

sion, is the president of

Brooklyn Heritage, Inc.,

and the former assistant

director of the Brooklyn

College Archaeological

Research Center. He,

along with others, is

spearheading this project

to ensure that this vital

period of American his-

tory is not forgotten.

It’s been over 225 years since more than 20,000 British forces landedduring the American Revolution at what would eventually become FortHamilton in Brooklyn, N.Y.

One m ay argu e that th e United States of America began in Brooklyn on

a fateful August day in 1776 and not in Philadelphia, Pa., in July of that year.Not m any know this chap ter of the Revolutionary War. One of the most impor-tant battles of the American Revolution w as fought at a location between Pros-pect Park an d Third Avenue in Brooklyn.

The historic per iod of the City of New York an d th e battles that occurredin the five borough s du ring the w ar are r arely discussed in schools and are left

out of some history books.

How many of us realize that the Battle of Brooklyn (or the Battle of

Long Island, for the pu rists out there) was in reality the first battle fought as th eUnited States of America? It was in Brooklyn th at the 13 colonies went on e stepbeyond the ideal that 20-plus men signed in Ph iladelph ia six weeks p rior.

With so little wr itten, know n and un derstood about th is period of Ameri-can and New York City history, local groups have ban ded together to clarifyhistory. Brooklyn H eritage, Inc., a not-for-profit organ ization has joined withthe Brooklyn College Archaeological Research Center (pa rt of the Depar tmentof Anth ropology and Archaeology at Brooklyn College) to create a Revolution-

ary War Her itage Tour ism Trail. This project will create, in p art, a tou rism m apthat id entifies the 100-plus Revolutionary War sites in Brooklyn alone. Twenty

of those sites will hav e signs installed describing the even ts that occur red th ere.An internet w eb site will be developed so tha t people can take a virtual tour of the area and to find out m ore information an d locate resources on the Revolu-tionary p eriod of N ew York.

The project has been aw ard ed a $100,000 gran t from H eritage New York,a program run th rough th e New York State Department of Parks, Recreationand H istoric Preservation. As part of this grant, the N ew York City Depart-

ment of Parks and Recreation and theCity University of N ew York’s ResearchFound ation have pledged in-kind con-tributions to ensure that th e p roject is asuccess.

The red coats (and blue coats) are coming!

It’s been over 225 years since more than 20,000

British forces landed during the American Revo-

lution at what would eventually become Fort

Hamilton in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Photos:Vince

Elias

By Christopher Ricciardi

Environmental Branch, Planning Division




Anoth er group of New York District volun teers left

for duty overseas in the fall. New York District has

many people, several whom are volunteers that have

joined team s comp rised of exper ts from severa l Corpsdistricts and divisions.

New York District experts are involved in various m is-

sions to assess projects. Working with Iraq’s work

Corps experts make a difference at home and overseas

Serving the nationSince May 1, 2003, the following accomplishments have occurred in Iraq:

The first battalion of the new Iraqi Army has graduated and is on activeduty.

Over 60,000 Iraqis now provide security to their fellow citizens.

Nearly all of Iraq’s 400 courts are functioning.

The Iraqi judiciary is fully independent.

In Oct. 6 power generation hit 4,518 megawatts-exceeding the prewaraverage.

All 22 universities and 43 technical institutes and colleges are open, asare nearly all primary and secondary schools.

As of October, Coalition forces had rehabbed over 1,500 schools - 500more than their target.

Teachers earn from 12 times to 25 t imes their former salaries.

All 240 hospitals and more than 1200 clinics are open.

Doctors’ salaries have increased since under the former Iraqi dictator.

Pharmaceutical distribution has gone from essentially nothing to 700 tonsin May to a current total of 12,000 tons.

The Coalition has helped administer over 22 million vaccination doses toIraq’s children.

A Coalition program has cleared over 14,000 kilometers of Iraq’s 27,000kilometers of weed-choked canals. They now irrigate tens of thousandsof farms. This project has created jobs for more than 100,000 Iraqi menand women.

We have restored over three-quarters of prewar telephone services andover two-thirds of the potable water production.

There are 4,900 full-service telephone connections. We expect 50,000by January 1st.

The wheels of commerce are turning. From bicycles to satellite dishes tocars and trucks, businesses are coming to life in all major cities and towns.

Ninety-five percent of all prewar bank customers have service and first-time customers are opening accounts daily.

Iraqi banks are making loans to finance businesses. The central bank isfully independent.

Iraq has one of the world’s most growth-oriented investment and bankinglaws.

Iraq has a single, unified currency for the f irst time in 15 years.

(Source: Mary McArthur, USACE)

During th is holiday season, many Corps of Engi-

neers experts are deployed to Afghanistan and

Iraq to provide essential oversight of infrastruc-

ture repairs for the local peop le. Corps experts

are serving in harm’s way and willingly are mak-

ing a sacrifice so that others might have a futu re

of safety and freedom .

Restoration and improvements

force became necessary in restoring the country

Throughou t 2003, the Corps team s performed assess

ments of infrastructure and supp orted the restoration

of Iraq.

Planners anticipated severe damage to the infrastruc

ture systems and buildings as a result of war, looting

and decades of neglect




Steven Wright, a p ub lic affairs specialist from H un tington Dis-

trict spent a five-month tou r in Kuw ait as part of the Corps’ Team RIO

that helped Iraqi families obtain the same d reams and aspirations of a

safe and stable futu re and jobs and edu cation for their children.

From March to Augu st 2003, Wright lived like a soldier in open

bay barracks, ate Meals, Ready-to-Eat rations, and w orked in cramp ed

quarters in Cam p Doha , Kuw ait. Wright performed pu blic affairs du -

ties for the Corps’ Operation Restore Iraqi Oil (RIO) that included in-

forming the media about the work being performed by the Corps.

“We are d oing great w ork in Iraq. Seldom will you be able to

see such a d irect positive result from the w ork d one by you rself and

your organization,” add ed Wright. “It is an outstand ing example of

the Corp s’ civil works capabilities being u sed to meet our n ational policy

requirements. The U.S. needs a Corps of Engineers and we can go

anyw here and accomplish great work.”

In Septem ber 2003 the Iraq Ministry of Hou s-

ing and Constru ction received $14.6 million from theCoalition Provisional Authority to continu e w ith thereconstru ction effort. The money is a progress pay-ment on the $100 million Construction Initiative setup by Ambassador L. Paul Bremer, III to jump startthe Ministry of Hou sing and Constru ction’s efforts torebuild Iraq.

“The money is not going to international con-tractors; it is going to the Iraqi contractors and will beput directly into the local economy,” said Mike

O’Sullivan, an Army Corps of Engineers program

manager to the Ministry of Housing and Construction.He explained that this deposit would h ave an overallpositive ripp le effect on the Iraqi economy. “This $14.6million will go to hiring an d p aying the salaries of lo-cal Iraqi engineers and tr adesm en. These contractorswill use this money to bu y construction m aterials andfurn ishings from local Iraqis shops.”

The Ministry of Hou sing and Construction andO’Sullivan were very hap py to have this money safely

deposited within the Iraq financial system as it wastransported incognito in three foot lockers in the back

of an SUV. The transfer of the progress paym ent hadto occur this way as the Iraq financial system curren tlywill not accept checks or wire transfers.

This dep osit represents another step in the righ

d irection for the reconstru ction of Iraq. With thisprogress paym ent, more mon ey is available to be distributed to Iraqi contractors for their w ork, and newconstruction projects can begin and current projectscan continue.

Iraq housing ministry receives funding

Public affairs specialist gets the word out

By Spec. Michelle Richardson

Mike O’Sullivan,

Corps of Engineersprogram manager to

the Ministry of

Housing and Con-

struction holds a

stack of currency.

O’Sulllivan was very

happy to have this

money safely

deposited within the

Iraqi financial

system.

Steven Wright (By JoAnne Castagna, PPMD)




Sam Tosi, Chief, Planningand Policy Division, Civil Works

Management Directorate of North

Atlantic division will retire in

Janu ary. Tosi was a long-time Dis-

trict emp loyee who began his ca-

reer in 1962 as a junior engineer

in training.

Tosi supp orted New York

District in man y of his efforts. He

was the first dep uty d istrict engi-

neer for Programs and Project Management at NewYork d istrict as well as chief of Planning Division. Tosi

was instrumen tal in the success of several major civil

works projects, such as the Passaic River, Coney Is-

land , Sea Bright, Green Brook, Por t Jersey, Arth ur Kill,

Kill van Kull, Shinnecock Inlet, Fire Island to Montauk

Point, Westham pton Beach, and New York Harbor.

“My plans for the future are to relax, spend

time with my family and ... and then see what hap-

pen s,” said Tosi.

Retirements

Col. O’Dowd, District Engineer was selected by the

Gowanus Canal Community Development Corp. to

receive its Public Service Award . O’Dowd w as se-

lected d ue h is many years of dedicated service to the

Corps and to the Gowanu s Community. O’Dowd will

receive the award in April.

Stork Club

Sean Stumpf, a geographer in

Planning Division, popped the

question to bride-to-be

Monica Pantale. Plans are to

tie the knot in 2004.

Engagement announcement

It’s a boy!

Robin Tulsiram of PPMDis the proud father ofChristian Jacob Tulsiram,born Dec. 8, 2003.

Vital Stats: 6 lbs. and 10oz., 19 3/4 inches.

News makers

District Engineer to receivepublic service award

Richard Wright retired in October

after being the chief of the Engi-

neering Design Branch for almost

a d ecade.

Prior to that, he was the chief of

Engineering Division’s Civil

Projects Management Branch.

Vietri to join NorthAtlantic Division

Congratulations to Joseph Vietri of Plann ing Division

who received a promotion to Chief, Planning Divi-

sion at the Corp s’ North Atlan tic Division.

Sam Tosi

Richard Wright

Get well soonThe executive staff

and special assis-

tants showed some

compassion by pro-

viding a gift basket

for Col . O’Dowd.

O’Dowd made a

speedy recovery

from foot surgery in

December.




Dredging the Port of New York and New Jersey

Col. John B. O’Dowd, District Engineer, signed the FCSA for

the Hud son-Raritan Estuary, Lower Passaic River Ecosystem

Restoration study.

“This study embarks upon new cooperative partnerships be

tween Federal and state agencies by combining efforts with

the EPA to add ress the contamination, cleanup and restora

tion of urban rivers,” said Ronald Brattain of Planning Divi-

sion.

The Lower Passaic River study area has been identified as

one of eight pilot studies under the Urban Rivers Restoration

Initiative, and begins at Dun dee Dam near Gar field, NJ to the

river ’s confluen ce at New ark Bay.

Hurricane Isabel unleashed her wrath onto the shorelines of the

states of Virginia and Nor th Carolina in September.

It was reported that certain areas had over 50 homes that were

destroyed, and 2,000 that were severely damaged by the storm.

New York District personn el and mem bers of other Corps dis-

tricts were part of a Federal team who were brough t together un-

der FEMA. Over 300 Corps personnel were involved in Isabel

recovery operations.

A Corps Temp orary H ousing Project Response team perfomed siteinspections of app licants app roved by FEMA for tem porary trail-

ers. The Corps team performed qu ality assurance inspections and

processed over 190 travel trailer installations.

The teams conducted site inspections of personal property and

located necessary connections for u tilities.

New York District is responsible for overseeing the Corps’s

number one p roject, dredging the Kill van Kull, a major water-

way crucial to the m aritime ind ustry. At one time there w ere 80pieces of dredging-related equipm ent in the harbor, including

dred ges, drill boats, survey boats, tugs and scows.

In the nation’s third largest container port, the existing 40-foot

channel does not permit access by many of today’s modern-

day container ships. The port ind irectly and directly sup ports

over 225,000 jobs in the New York an d New Jersey area and

provides consumer goods ranging from cocoa and orange juice

to au tomobiles.

District headlines

District renders emergency assistance in the South

Study embarks upon new partnership

(Photo:PeterShugert)

Four dredges near the Bayonne Bridge, during

dredging operations in the Kill van Kull.

Douglas Liete takes a measurement necessary to

connect a utility line during an inspection of per-

sonal property.

The Study Team. (l-r) Ellen Simon, Jeffrey Gross, Ronald

Brattain, Tom Shea, Robert Hass, Col. John B. O’Dowd,

Marty Goff and Bethany McClanahan.




A Friendly Reminder from Your Security Office...

Do not process, store or transm it classified information on non-secure telecomm un ications systems. Official

Departm ent of Defense telecomm unications systems — includ ing telephones, fax machines, compu ter net-

works, and mod ems — are subject to mon itoring for telecommunications security pu rposes at all times. Use

of official DoD telecommu nications systems constitutes consent to telecommu nications security mon itoring.

Attn: PAO, Rm 2113

26 Federal PlazaNew York, NY 10278-0090

FIRST CLASS MAILAddress Correction Requested

- Never drink and drive.

- Drive defensively and be situationally aware.

- Refrain from shoveling snow if you have a medical condition.

- Wear proper shoes designed for the elements.

- An overloaded electrical wall socket is a fire hazard.

- Never leave lighted candles unattended.

- Watch for beverage spills on workplace floors.

- Keep a first aid kit near your work space.

- Always wear a hard hat at a construction job site.

- Never lean on the safety lines while on a Corps vessel.

During th e midd le ages, the French coined the

term “genie” to represent the Engineers. Over

the years, “genie” evolved into the Old English

word “enginator” meaning one who operates

the engines of war, such as siege towers, bat-

tering rams and alike. With the support of pro-

fessional French military engineers, our young

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was created

du ring America’s War for Ind epend ence.

Today, that French h eritage is still seen w ithin

the Corps. Even the motto of the American En-

gineers, “ESSAYONS,” is French for “Let us

try.”

Did you know ?

Tidbits

Mary Stav ina’s

Health and safety tips

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