Corps corrals more horsepower for Olmsted project management

Published Sept. 25, 2012

LOUISVILLE, KY – David Dale became the first deputy district engineer for Olmsted Sept. 5, bringing years of engineering and leadership experience to the critical locks and dam construction project on the lower Ohio River.

“I asked my own civilian deputy to step into this newly created position to add his management skills to Olmsted’s hardworking project delivery team during this period of cost increases, funding challenges and reassessment of dam construction methods,” explained Col. Luke Leonard, Louisville District commander and district engineer.  “This position will get him on the ground on-site more often than he was able to do overseeing regional programs and hundreds of projects across the nation.”   

Dale has been the Louisville District deputy district engineer and chief of the planning, programs and project management division since 2008. The District employs approximately 1,300 people executing civil works and military construction missions with a workforce that includes engineers, architects, planners, economists, biologists, lock operators and archeologists.

Dale graduated from the University of Kentucky, College of Engineering in 1985 with a bachelor’s in civil engineering and since then has worked for the Louisville District in a variety of construction and project management positions. Prior to becoming the District’s civilian deputy he was the area engineer at Fort Knox, responsible for managing $100 million in military and civil works construction projects in Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. As the deputy district engineer Dale had complete oversight for executing the design, construction and operation of the District’s national mission, valued at more than $1.5 billion. 

Dale is a registered professional engineer in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and a project management professional as prescribed by the Project Management Institute.  He is a member of the Society of American Military Engineers and has achieved the highest level of certification by the Corps of Engineers Planning, Programs and Project Management Community of Practice. 

For information about the Olmsted lock replacement project, click Projects of Interest in the left column and then Olmsted Locks and Dam Construction.