US Army Corps of Engineers to take more active role in the islands
BY MAUREEN N. MARATITA Journal Staff
A new initiative for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will not only direct USACE to continue its involvement in the islands but could ensure that several military construction projects in Micronesia move speedily forward.
Photo courtesy of Pacific Federal Management Inc.
On Feb. 23, Adam R. Telle, assistant secretary of the Army for Civil Works, announced a major initiative, “Building Infrastructure, Not Paperwork,” for the Army’s Civil Works program.
According to the release the Journal received, “Building Infrastructure, Not Paperwork” will enable USACE district commanders around the nation to execute the Civil Works projects and programs that benefit the nation. USACE commanders will be empowered to take informed risks in advancing critical water resources projects and programs to completion faster and at less cost. The policy changes will also bring greater transparency and accountability for the program to the American public, project partners and sponsors, industry, and the elected leaders who make the annual funding decisions for the Civil Works program.”
The plan consists of 27 initiatives grouped under five categories, which are Maximizing the Ability to Deliver National Infrastructure, Cutting Red Tape, a Focus on Efficiency, Transparency & Accountability and Prioritization. UCACE has been involved in a variety of projects for the islands for decades and has awarded work to local companies, with more opportunities to come.
According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Honolulu District, that office “oversees inspections and maintenance of 27 federal navigation harbors,” which include those in Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the freely associated states of Palau, the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau.
To date, work has included an important project for Guam’s maritime community — the $4.4 million Agana Small Boat Harbor repairs awarded to Pacific Federal Management Inc. — and completed in February. The Small Boat Harbor suffered damage when Typhoon Mawar hit the island in May 2023, affecting search and rescue operations.
According to USACE in Honolulu, upcoming projects in Micronesia include the Agat Small Boat Harbor Maintenance dredging in May and maintenance repairs in Rota’s Harbor in 2027.
Amy L. Bugala, chief of Public Affairs for USACE in Honolulu, said the 27 initiatives are specific to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Civil Works program, which includes federal navigation projects. “Maintenance work on these federal harbors is done on an as needed basis,” she said.
USACE has a history in the islands stretching back to the Trust Territory era of the 1970s and 1980s and has worked on capital improvement projects since then in the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Palau and the Marshall Islands.
Its projects have focused on shorelines, harbors, operations and maintenance, master plans, and infrastructure projects to address backlogs. USACE’smost recent studies included the Tinian Harbor Modifications Study in partnership with stakeholders, which began in 2015, and contributed to a $500 million project to improve Tinian Harbor.
A famous project that USACE oversaw was the Palau Compact Road,a 53-mile, $149 million highway round Babeldaob, awarded to Daewoo Engineering and Contracting Co. Ltd. in March 1999, which was funded through the Compact agreement.
The road was officially handed to Palau on Oct. 1, 2007, with a ribbon cutting to mark the occasion. That was the same date the Capitol Building complex in Melekeok in Ngerulmud state was the site of Palau’s Independence Day celebrations, since the road led to the Capitol. mbj
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