U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District

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U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District Welcome to the official page of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District.

These are two important facts about dams:1. They are typically quite large. 2. Thinking all dams do the same dam job is ...
10/06/2026

These are two important facts about dams:

1. They are typically quite large.

2. Thinking all dams do the same dam job is a dam misconception.

It's an easy distinction to overlook - they are called "dams" after all, but different dams have different purposes. The Pittsburgh District primarily specializes in two types: navigation and flood-risk-management.

Flood-risk-management dams are tall and static. They're designed with storage space that can capture incoming water during storms and release it later when downstream areas are ready for additional flows. These dams are great at holding runoff to release in measured amounts later, but they're not great at passing watercraft between river elevations because they're not equipped with lock chambers.

Navigation dams on rivers like the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio maintain enough water depth for vessels to travel. These dams are pretty short because they create a series of controlled navigable river pools, turning rivers into large water staircases. They're not designed with flood-storage capacity so they don't affect high water after a storm.

Together, our 16 flood-risk-management reservoirs and 22 navigation lock and dam facilities help reduce flood risk and keep river transportation moving, with different dams doing different dam jobs to serve the region.

A familiar face in the Pittsburgh District traded silver oak leaves for a silver eagle.Please join us in congratulating ...
10/02/2026

A familiar face in the Pittsburgh District traded silver oak leaves for a silver eagle.

Please join us in congratulating Col. Albert Butler on his promotion to colonel!

Col. Butler previously served as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District's deputy commander from 2020-2022, helping lead the district through major civil works milestones, including completion of the East Branch Clarion River Dam Safety Modification Project. He later commanded the 3rd Brigade Engineer Battalion, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, serving with Soldiers and allied partners overseas before returning to serve as the Pittsburgh District's current temporary commander.

Promotion to colonel marks another milestone in a career built on engineering, leadership, and service to Soldiers and the nation.

Congratulations, Col. Butler, from all of us at the Pittsburgh District!

Happy , a holiday celebrating humanity’s centuries-long adoration for scalding bean water. Pittsburgh, known for its th...
10/01/2026

Happy , a holiday celebrating humanity’s centuries-long adoration for scalding bean water.

Pittsburgh, known for its three rivers, moved coffee up and down its waterways long before the Pittsburgh District existed. In 1847, an estimated 1 million tons of commodities moved in and out of the area by river, and George Thurston’s 1857 "Pittsburgh as It Is" lists four ship chandlers who reportedly sold 38,337 bags of coffee for $766,740 (which is worth roughly $30 million today).

The catch, as it was for most problems in the 1800s, was that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District hadn't built any lock facilities in the region yet because it wasn't established until 1866. Allegheny and Ohio river traffic often contended with variable river stages, shallow water, sandbars, rocks, and snags, making rivers difficult and unreliable to navigate. There were a handful of privately-owned locks on the Monongahela River, but Pittsburgh's waterway transportation were still largely at the behest of mother nature, thus hindering Pittsburghers' access to additional coffee.

The Corps of Engineers, for reasons other than coffee, began systematically improving navigation on the three rivers in the late 1800s by building dozens of lock facilities, starting with Davis Island Lock and Dam in 1885 on the Ohio River. Today, Pittsburgh District locks still pass more than 160 million tons of commercial cargo - mostly coal and industrial materials - through its 22 navigation facilities annually, but coffee has largely vanished from the modern river manifest.

Coffee wasn't always tabulated as an individual freight item at the end of the 1800s so our social media guy can't draw a direct connection between Pittsburgh's growing coffee market and the Corps of Engineers building navigation facilities, but there is a direct line between more lock facilities opening to serve the region and river navigation becoming safer and more reliable.

Before you launch your boat or cast a line this fall, always "Know Before You Go." Check local weather forecasts, water ...
09/30/2026

Before you launch your boat or cast a line this fall, always "Know Before You Go." Check local weather forecasts, water levels, and dam release schedules. Conditions can change rapidly, so be prepared for anything!

Today we have...more historical photos! They're from 1936 and capture crews building the dam at Tygart Lake near Grafton...
09/29/2026

Today we have...more historical photos!

They're from 1936 and capture crews building the dam at Tygart Lake near Grafton, West Virginia, during one of the Pittsburgh District's earliest major reservoir projects.

Authorized by Congress in 1935 and completed in 1938, Tygart Dam became the first of the district’s 16 flood-control reservoirs. The massive concrete dam was built to help regulate the Tygart Valley River, reduce downstream flood risk, and temper the flows needed to sustain navigable waters on the Monongahela and upper Ohio rivers.

Nearly 90 years later, the concrete is considerably less new, but the mission continues and the dam isn't slowing down anytime soon.

During a historic storm in West Virginia on July 21, Stonewall Jackson Lake stopped half a billion cubic feet of water -...
09/28/2026

During a historic storm in West Virginia on July 21, Stonewall Jackson Lake stopped half a billion cubic feet of water - weighing nearly 130 billion pounds - from entering the West Fork River and further devastating already-flooding downstream towns.

At the storm’s peak, so much water was pouring into the lake to fill roughly 11 Olympic-size swimming pools every minute.

FULL STORY HERE: https://www.dvidshub.net/news/575700/between-river-and-town

For the folks who frequent Berlin Lake in Ohio, this is the last weekend Mill Creek campground will be open before we lo...
09/25/2026

For the folks who frequent Berlin Lake in Ohio, this is the last weekend Mill Creek campground will be open before we lock the gates for the season….so the rangers are making the most of it with a special Halloween-themed closeout!

Details:

- Camping check-in: Friday, Sept. 25 at 11 a.m.

- Camping check-out: Sunday, Sept. 27 at 1 p.m.

- Trunk or Treat: Saturday, Sept. 26 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. and open to the public.

- Trunk-or-Treat parking will be at the Mill Creek Day Use Area.

After Sunday, the campground closes for the season and returns next year after spending several months doing nothing in the woods.

Questions? Call the Ranger Station at 330-547-3781.

The Pittsburgh region has seen a lot of rain recently. Fall is also here which means cooler weather and heavier rain, bu...
09/24/2026

The Pittsburgh region has seen a lot of rain recently. Fall is also here which means cooler weather and heavier rain, but protecting lives and property remains the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' top priority. While our 16 reservoirs work to reduce flood risk throughout the region, there are steps you can take to keep you and your loved ones safe in an emergency.

If you live near a river, reservoir or other flood-prone area, now is a much better time to prepare than when your driveway assimilates into the watershed. Here are a few tips from Ready.gov:

-Know your flood risk. Check local flood maps and sign up for emergency alerts.

- Have an evacuation plan. Know where you’ll go, how you’ll get there and what Plan B is in case Plan A falls through. Familiarize yourself with multiple exit routes in case primary roads are blocked.

- Pack an emergency kit. Food, water, medications, documents, cash, chargers, and pet supplies.

- Flood-proof your home. Elevate your electrical systems and utilities if possible. Reinforce windows, doors, and any weak areas that could be vulnerable to flooding.

- If officials tell you to evacuate, go. When told to leave, don’t delay. Head to higher ground as quickly as possible.

- Never walk or drive through floodwater. Six inches of moving water can knock you down, and about a foot can carry away many vehicles.

By staying alert, preparing in advance, and following these safety measures, you can help protect your home, loved ones, and community from the devastating effects of flooding.

Learn more at Ready.gov/floods.

(Pictures are from April 2024)

Fun bit of history: Michael J. Kirwan Dam & Reservoir wasn’t always Michael J. Kirwan Dam & Reservoir.This photo from Ju...
09/23/2026

Fun bit of history: Michael J. Kirwan Dam & Reservoir wasn’t always Michael J. Kirwan Dam & Reservoir.

This photo from June 8, 1965, shows workers beneath the original West Branch Dam & Reservoir sign, back when the under-construction project was still named for the West Branch Mahoning River it impounds.

Five years later, Congress passed Public Law 91-639 and officially renamed the project for Michael J. Kirwan, a longtime congressman from northeastern Ohio who championed reservoir construction throughout the region.

As our trusty history book, "The Headwaters District: A History of the Pittsburgh District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers" explains:

"Mr. President, you will surely recall crossing the Mahoning River two or three times during your visit to Youngstown's busy steel plants last fall," Congressman Mike Kirwan wrote in his May 1941 letter to Franklin Roosevelt. "The Mahoning River is now at the point of drying up after its flood waters threatened interruption of production in January. That river is 80% sewage, and we are called the 'wonder people of America' because we drink it and it doesn't kill us. I was foreman in a steel plant here for twenty years and can recall sending men to shunt sewage away from the water intakes."

Michael J. Kirwan was appealing to the President, Congress and to anyone who would listen in 1941 for quick action on Mahoning basin water troubles. He declared that repeated flooding interfered with steel mill production, that strong men collapsed from the stench of the polluted stream, and that low water flows hampered national defense. He said steel mills used and reused the Mahoning so many times that both water taps in Youngstown homes delivered hot water, and that ducks never landed on the Mahoning for fear of being cooked alive. People and industry in the Mahoning basin had built Milton and Meander Creek dams without a cent contributed by the Federal Government, though the Mahoning Valley paid more in taxes than some states. Floods and droughts in the Mahoning basin disrupted production of 10% of the nation's steel, essential to any defense program.

"There is only one way to remedy this threatening situation," Kirwan told the President, "and that is by the immediate construction of Berlin and Mosquito Creek dams on the Mahoning and one of its principal tributaries."

Kinzua Dam looked rather pretty yesterday, so here are some fun facts about it:- Kinzua Dam went into operation in 1965 ...
09/22/2026

Kinzua Dam looked rather pretty yesterday, so here are some fun facts about it:

- Kinzua Dam went into operation in 1965 near Warren, Pennsylvania
- The dam sits about 198 river miles upstream from Pittsburgh
- It contains roughly 500,000 cubic yards of concrete and 3 million cubic yards of earth fill
- The 179-foot-tall structure helps reduce flood risk along the Allegheny and upper Ohio rivers while supporting downstream water supply, water quality, and river navigation
- The watershed leading to the reservoir covers about 2,180 square miles
- Since 1965, Kinzua Dam has prevented nearly $1.4 billion in flood damages

📸 by Kinzua Dam staff

Address

1000 Liberty Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA
15222

Opening Hours

Monday 8am - 5pm
Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+14123957500

Website

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