Chicago District Projects
A Brief Overview
The Chicago District is responsible for water resources development in the Chicago metropolitan area, a unique urban area of about 5,000 square miles with a population of about 8 million, covering 17 congressional districts.In 1833, the Army Corps of Engineers constructed a harbor at the mouth of the Chicago River. The city soon became an important shipping center and Chicago’s growth was off and running. In 1870, the Corps formally established the Chicago District office.
From 1844 to 1915, the Corps of Engineers constructed harbors and harbor improvements along the Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin shorelines and in the 1930s completed the Illinois Waterway, linking Lake Michigan with the Mississippi River.
From the 1940s through the 1970s, the district was involved in a variety of military and civil construction projects including Nike missile bases, the military facility at O’Hare, widening the Cal-Sag navigation channel and constructing Burns Harbor.
In the 1980s the district’s support for others grew to include providing construction assistance to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency wastewater treatment Construction Grants Program and the environmental cleanup ‘Superfund.’
The district in the 1990s has developed an enhanced environmental program, begun several major flood prevention projects in Illinois and Northwest Indiana and participated in numerous flood relief and damage assessment efforts. The district also directed the emergency relief effort for the Great Chicago Tunnel Flood, caused by a breach in the floor of the Chicago River. The city’s underground tunnel network flooded, sending river water into subway tunnels, basements and sub-basements in the Loop, Chicago’s downtown business district.
The Chicago District is committed to providing quality, cost effective and environmentally sustainable planning, engineering and construction products and services.
Mission Areas
The district is involved in a
variety of projects stemming from its primary mission areas of Flood Control, Shoreline Protection,
Navigation, Environmental Protection, Emergency
Management and Support for Others.
Flood Control
Combined sewers carrying both stormwater
and raw sewage serve Chicago and 51 neighboring communities, an area of 375
square miles. Due to the highly developed urban nature of the area,
stormwater runoff frequently exceeds sewer capacity, backing up into basements
and sending overflow into area waterways. To combat this hazardous
flooding, the Tunnel and Reservoir Plan was developed to collect and hold
the flow from the combined sewers until it can be safely released into the
sewer system. The Corps is responsible for constructing the reservoir portion
of the plan. The district completed construction of the 350-million
gallon O’Hare Reservoir in 1998. The district began construction of the 7.5
billion-gallon, $405 million McCook Reservoir in 2000. When completed, the
McCook Reservoir will be the largest reservoir of its type in the world.
Construction of the third reservoir, at Thornton, with a potential 6-8 billion-gallon
total capacity, will begin around 2005.
Another major project is the Little
Calumet River Flood Control and Recreation Project, currently under construction.
In November 1999, the Chicago District joined with federal, state and local
officials to celebrate the halfway point in the construction of this $184
million project. The project involves constructing levees and floodwalls,
enhancing wetlands and creating recreation areas along 22 miles of the Little
Calumet River in Northwest Indiana.
The district has several major
flood control studies underway-- such as the Des Plaines River Flood Damage
Reduction Study that will examine alternatives for reducing flooding in 33
municipalities along 67 miles of the Des Plaines River in Illinois.
Another study, the Kankakee River Basin Flood Control Study, evaluates flooding
and its causes, land use practices and environmental issues in the 5,200
square mile basin in Indiana and Illinois.
The district is also involved in
several smaller flood control projects including ones along Stony Creek, Deer
Creek, Natalie Creek, the Fox River, and Cady Marsh Ditch in Indiana.
Navigation
The Chicago District maintains
seven harbors on Lake Michigan -- Waukegan, Chicago, and Calumet Harbors in
Illinois; and Burns International, Burns Small Boat, Michigan City and Indiana
harbors in Indiana. Additionally, the district operates the Chicago
Lock, one of the busiest in the nation, locking through nearly 63,000 vessels
and over 900,000 passengers annually.
In 1999 the district completed
several major repairs to the gate seals, tracks, rollers and hinges of the
Chicago Lock and prepared a Major Rehabilitation Evaluation Report for future
improvements to the lock and lock structures.
Lack of a suitable disposal site for the approximately
one million cubic yards of contaminated sediments at Indiana Harbor, Indiana,
has prevented dredging since 1972. A plan developed jointly by the Chicago
District and U.S. EPA Region 5 calls for the construction of a disposal facility
on an active RCRA site in East Chicago, Ind.
The district is completing the
feasibility study for constructing a confined disposal facility near Waukegan
Harbor and dredging the inner harbor.
The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal
forms a unique, man-made link between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi
River. The canal also provides aquatic nuisance species, such as the
round goby, access between the two water basins. To research methods
of deterring aquatic nuisance species from entering the Mississippi River,
the Chicago District began construction of an electric barrier demonstration
project in 2001.
Shoreline Protection
One of Chicago’s most unique attributes
is its 30 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline, nearly all of which is publicly
owned. The existing shore protection structures, built in the early 1900s,
are no longer structurally functioning. Without intervention, about
11 miles of structures would have failed. The Chicago Shoreline Project
involves reconstructing revetments to prevent storm damage to a $5 billion
infrastructure. Between the Chicago District and the local sponsors,
the City of Chicago and the Chicago Park District, construction of several
portions of the shoreline have already been completed, including reconstruction
of a breakwater protecting a water purification plant serving 2.5 million
people. Construction of the $301 million project is scheduled for completion
by 2005.
The district is also studying storm
damage problems along the Lake Michigan shoreline between Waukegan and Wilmette
harbors in Illinois and providing beach nourishment along the Indiana Dunes
National Lakeshore. Several smaller erosion protection and/or ecosystem
restoration projects throughout the Chicago and Northwest Indiana area are
also underway.
| The POC for this page: Lynne Whelan, Public Affairs Office telephone # 312-846-5330 Chicago, Il Page last updated: 3 October 2003 |
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