Lt. Gen. Scott Spellmon, 55th Chief of Engineers and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Command Sgt. Maj. Patrickson Toussaint visited the Louisville District, Oct. 21, 2020 to engage with senior leadership at the district and division levels.
While here, Spellmon and Toussaint toured the ongoing miter gate replacement project at McAlpine Locks and Dam and visited the existing Metro Louisville Flood Protection System in Louisville, Kentucky.
“There are 44 districts in USACE, and each one is unique,” said Louisville District Commander Col. Eric Crispino. “It was a tremendous honor to host the Chief of Engineers and talk about the Louisville District’s story and what makes it special.”
To start the day, Louisville District Deputy Engineer Linda Murphy, provided a district overview to the USACE commander, and Craig Moulton, Operations Division Maintenance Section chief, briefed him on the McAlpine Locks and Dam miter gate replacement project before visiting the construction site.
Spellmon also received briefings on the Louisville District’s Reserve and Veterans Affairs programs. He, along with division leadership, recognized several Louisville District employees during the visit; one of which was Amy Babey, Civil Works Planning, Programs and Project Management Branch chief.
Maj. Gen. Robert Whittle Jr., Great Lakes and Ohio River Division commander, recognized Babey with the Great Lakes and Ohio River Division’s Agents of the Revolution Award for leading the Louisville District’s Civil Works mission to identify solutions for stakeholders’ water resources challenges. Babey is the third recipient, and the only civilian, to receive this award.
“It was an honor to be recognized as an Agent of the Revolution by Maj. Gen. Whittle,” Babey said. “The Louisville District Civil Works staff and project delivery team members routinely think outside the box to pursue opportunities to accelerate project delivery and pursue alternative financing. I am proud to lead this group as we support the goal of revolutionizing the Corps nationwide.”
During his visit, Spellmon also took part in a hands-on demonstration with Soo Locks BIM Model – a virtual reality demonstration of the new Soo Lock located in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan. Louisville District engineers, along with engineers from Detroit, Huntington, Nashville and Pittsburgh districts and the Inland Navigation Design Center, joined together to design the mega-project for the Detroit District, which operates and maintains the Soo Locks Facility.
To wrap up the visit, Spellmon toured some of the existing Metro Louisville Flood Protection project components to include electric stations, floodwall area and pump stations.