Corps releases $23 billion fiscal 2022 work plan

The U.S. Army announced yesterday its $23 billion schedule to implement Civil Works studies, projects and programs in fiscal year 2022.

The Army Corps of Engineers' plan will use supplemental funding provided in two recently enacted laws — the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the 2022 Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act. 

One of the newly funded projects is the $732 million allocated to complete the design and construction of a 1,200'x110' lock chamber for Mississippi River Lock and Dam 25 (near Winfield, Mo.), the U.S. Department of Agriculture said. Adjacent to the existing 600'x110' lock chamber, the new chamber will be able to accommodate a typical 15-barge tow —transporting over 800,000 bushels of grain — to transit the lock in a single pass, the USDA said. The new single-pass process (30-45 minutes) should be a big improvement over the current double-pass process (over two hours), which requires breaking each barge tow into two sections.

The Lock and Dam 25 project is one of the seven authorized lock construction projects under Corps' Navigation and Ecosystem Sustainability Program (NESP). Lock and Dam 25 handles nearly all grain shipped on the Mississippi River from Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin to export facilities near the Gulf of Mexico.

"The Army will work with community partners to leverage these historic Civil Works funds for investments that strengthen national supply chains through our commercial navigation mission, help communities impacted by climate change to increase their resiliency, advance environmental justice, and invest in communities that have too often been left behind," said Michael L. Connor, assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works.

With the $17.1 billion provided in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the Army will fund Army Civil Works studies and projects, maintain existing infrastructure, and repair damage and dredge channels in response to floods and coastal storms. Through this investment in water resources infrastructure, over $5 billion will help improve community resilience in the face of global climate change and $3.9 billion will address commercial navigation improvements at coastal ports and on the inland waterways.

The Army plan funds to completion 15 feasibility studies, the Preconstruction Engineering and Design (PED) phase of five projects, and 19 construction projects in fiscal year 2022.  Additionally, 22 new projects will be funded in the construction account.

Additionally, the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act provides $868 million of Mississippi River and Tributaries funding to construct, rehabilitate and repair damages to projects, including $500 million to construct flood and storm damage reduction projects in Louisiana. This funding will be used to complete two projects, continue construction of the Lower Mississippi River Main Stem Project, including a significant investment in levee safety, and to complete one of the features of that project in fiscal year 2022.