LA District leaders recognize team members, highlight accomplishments at Town Hall

Photo By Brooks Hubbard IV | Chris Rainwater (left), safety officer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District, is presented the District's H2O Helping Hands for Others award by Col. Andrew Baker, commander, Los Angeles District, District recognizing employee accomplishments during a Feb. 29 town hall at the district’s headquarters in downtown LA.  

LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES

02.29.2024

Story by Brooks Hubbard IV 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Los Angeles District

LOS ANGELES--Leaders with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Los Angeles District recognized employee accomplishments during a Feb. 29 town hall at the district’s headquarters in downtown LA.

In addition to presenting employee awards for the first quarter of fiscal year 2024, Col. Andrew Baker, LA District commander, provided an overview of several of the district’s current projects and emphasized Lt. Gen. Scott Spellmon’s directive on safety.

Spellmon, the 55th chief of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, reiterated his definition of winning by “Safely delivering quality projects on time and within budget” by directing all divisions and districts across the Corps to establish daily Safety and Occupational Health meetings at every project site, regardless of its size.

In response to the directive, Baker’s Safety team established three primary safety goals for the fiscal year: Celebrate a “Safety Hero” in monthly situational report; conducting mandatory “Safety for New Employee” sessions for 100 percent of new hires; and conducting and participating in daily safety huddles.

Justin Gay, LA District deputy engineer, emphasized ensuring the safety briefings are relevant to the activities that are happening at the project site at any given time.

Many of us have talked about this quite often, about using those activity hazard analysis as it relates to the features of work that you're performing,” he said. “For those who have never been to project sites, insist that the contractor inform you of what the risks are and give you a safety in-brief. Don't be afraid of that because it ensures you get home at the end of the day.”

Following the safety discussion, Baker briefed several of the district’s on-going beach nourishment projects, including Surfside-Sunset in Orange County, and San Clemente and Solana-Encinitas beaches in San Diego County.

SURFSIDE-SUNSET BEACH-NEWPORT BEACH SHORE PROTECTION PROJECT:

Work on Stage 13 of the Surfside-Sunset Beach Nourishment project – at $23.13-million – began in November 2023.
The construction contract was awarded to Manson Construction in October 2023. The overall project received $15.5 million in federal funding from the fiscal year 2022 Omnibus Work Plan budget.

The project is designed as remediation for beach erosion and damage largely incidental to federal flood control, navigation and defense projects, with the mitigation meant to last as long as necessary.

It is intended to provide periodic beach nourishment of about 1.8 million cubic yards of sand every five years, restoring 17 miles of coastline – from the mouth of the San Gabriel River down to the Newport Bay Harbor entrance.

For Stage 13, about 1.1 million cubic yards of sand is being placed on the Surfside Beach area. The proposed beach will be about 4,500 feet in length, and between 350 and 900 feet in width. About 100,000 cubic yards was backpassed from Newport Beach.

The sand was deposited along a stretch of beach south of the Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach and is expected, by way of natural currents, to move south to Huntington, Bolsa Chica and Newport Beach.

This project was several years in the making and is estimated to be completed in March.

SAN CLEMENTE BEACH NOURISHMENT PROJECT:

“Although we have seen some challenges with San Clemente, the team is working incredibly hard to overcome these challenges and make the San Clemente Beach Nourishment project a success,” Baker said.
The authorized project for coastal storm-damage reduction in San Clemente includes construction of a 50-foot-wide beach fill along a 3,412-foot-long stretch of shoreline, using 251,000 cubic yards of compatible sediment.

Additionally, the area is set to receive re-nourishments every six years on average over a 50-year period, for a total of eight additional nourishments – seven of which will have the same cubic yards of sand moved, while the last will require 84,000 cubic yards.

The work followed the signing of a project partnership agreement in February 2023 between the Corps and the City of San Clemente.

SOLANA BEACH – ENCINITAS BEACH

In January, dredging and sand replenishment operations began at Solana Beach, and it’s already halfway complete,” Baker said.

The purpose of the project is to reduce coastal storm damage and erosion along a 7,200-foot-long stretch of shoreline and includes construction of a 150-foot-wide beach fill using 700,000 cubic yards of compatible sediment.

In addition to the initial construction, the project will include 13 beach renourishments over a 50-year period at about $417 million, with a 50/50 federal-sponsor cost share.

Baker thanked the team for all their hard work and for how smoothly the operation was progressing.

After the completion of work, the dredge will then move to Encinitas, where construction is estimated to be completed in 45 days. At Encinitas, initial construction includes building a 50-foot-wide protective berm along 7,800 feet of shoreline, with beach renourishment cycles every five years.

RIO DE FLAG FLOOD-CONTROL PROJECT, Arizona

After severe fires, Flagstaff and its surrounding area has been subject to flooding from the Rio de Flag and Clay Avenue Wash tributaries. The project consists of channel modifications, bridge enhancements, a detention basin and floodwall construction.

The LA District received $79 million in federal funds for the Rio de Flag project and plans are to award the first construction contract for the Lower Rio de Flag and Clay Avenue Wash reaches in 2023.

Phase 1, 2 and 3 have been constructed. The Stage 1 portion of the project, which includes Phase 4-Lower Rio de Flag, and Phase 6-Clay Avenue Wash is next in line to be constructed. The final segment to be construction is Stage 2, which includes the Phase 5-Upper Rio de Flag Reach.

“I want to thank the team for the amazing work they did to deliver the PACR in time for WRDA 24,” Baker said.

PL84-99 SUPPORT TO THE HOPI TRIBE, Arizona
LA District’s Emergency Management Branch received a request for direct assistance from the Hopi Tribe when flooding and associated sediment deposits from an unusually strong monsoon season overwhelmed communities in Polacca, Arizona.

The district performed flood-response activities under emergency management authority Public Law 84-99, Emergency Response to Natural Disasters, which gives the Corps the authority to provide emergency assistance to local, state and tribal governments before, during and after flooding events.

As part of the assistance request, the district built several HESCO barriers to protect Hopi tribal homes after the flooding.

The tribe recounted the positive experience they had with the Corps during the Southern California Post-Fire Mitigation, Recovery and Resilience Workshop for Tribes in March 2023 in Southern California.

“I just want to recognize the Emergency Management Branch for their hard work building and maintaining positive relationships with our tribal partners and for the work they continuously do keeping our communities safe,” Baker said.

Following an overview of projects, the three leaders – Baker, LA District Deputy Commander Lt. Col. Stephen Brooks and Gay – recognized individuals by name as Fiscal Year First Quarter heroes, whose professionalism, dedication to duty and willingness to go above and beyond ensured the district was able to deliver the program and mission successfully.

• The Kevin Inada Employee of the Quarter award: Michael Rivera
• The Mike Cogan Safety Employee of the Quarter award: Cameron Amick
• The Innovator of the Year award: Glen Tucker
• The Rising Star award: Whitney Bishop
• The Compass award: Abegail Banaga
• The H2O Helping Hands for Others award: Christopher Rainwater and Portia Pham.
• The Outstanding PDT Member award: Veronica L

Baker concluded the awards presentation with the announcement of the District’s Project Delivery Team of the year: Sentinel - The Ground Based Strategic Deterrent (GBSD) Program at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California

Team members from the LA District include:
• Shaun Frost, chief of Construction, Source Selection Authority
• Steve Weiss, lead project scheduler
• Patrick Klein, budget analyst
• Raj Cooper, contracting officer
• Stanislav Sekakov, contract specialist
• Mary Wrightson, Office of Counsel
• Prisco "Eric" Ravelli, deputy, Office of the Small Business Programs
• John Stephens, area engineer, SSAC Chairperson
• Delvin Rivas, deputy area engineer
• Doug West, engineering tech
• David Jorgenson, resident engineer
• Capt. (P) Matthew Hall, project engineer
• Ihran Gayle, contracting officer representative

The team fielded questions from LA District team members and provided answers to those participating virtually in the town hall.

“We really appreciate everything that everybody is doing to continue to deliver quality projects on time, safely and within budget, and I am looking forward to seeing you out on a field site or in office,” Baker said.

• Date Taken: 02.29.2024
• Date Posted: 04.11.2024 19:19
• Story ID: 468375
• Location: LOS ANGELES, CA, US