George Washington,
soon to be President Washington, called on engineers to help fortify the
coastline as the war for Independence began.
The newly formed
engineer corps
was intregal to the formation of the nation's resources.
The dustbowl
of the 1930s
showed the nation that managing water as a resource was important to national
security.
"You gave
us beer. Now give us water"
says the sign on destroyed farmland. Tulsa District was born on the heels
of the drought of the 1930s.
Times were not
kind.
The drought was broken by a great flood in the late 1930s which led to the
Flood Control Act which created the Southwestern Division. Tulsa is formed
in 1939.
Tulsa District
has constructed
35 multiple purpose lakes which help to control flood damages and provides
storage capacity for water used for municipal and industrial purposes, hydropower
generation, and recreation.
President Nixon
graced the Tulsa District
when he came to dedicate the $1.2 billion navigation system in 1971.
| Corps
of Engineers -- Beginnings
- June 1775
- Army’s first Chief of Engineers begins work on defenses for the
Battle of Bunker Hill.
- 1779
- Corps of Engineers is formally established.
- April 1789
- George Washington is confirmed by Congress as the first President
of the United States.
- 1832 -
First River Act authorized $15,000 for work on Arkansas River to maintain
a channel to the mouth of the Grand River.
- 1890s
- Corps begins regulating U.S. waters, primarily to protect navigation.
- 1917
- Congress passes first flood control act after monumental floods in
1912 and 1913.
- 1930s
- Dust bowl drought and the Great Depression wrack the Arkansas and
Red River Basins.
- 1936
- Flood Control Act creates Southwestern Division and authorizes 211
flood control projects in 31 states.
- July 14,
1937 - Southwestern Division begins work in a territory that
includes the upper Arkansas, Red, White, and Black River Basins.
- 1939
- War breaks out in Europe.
Tulsa District
was founded in 1939
in the heartland of the country to provide engineering support to the nation
at a time of great contrast. The vivid memories of the 1936 flood —
one of the greatest and most widespread flooding disasters ever seen —
contrasted with the drought which tried to squeeze the life out of every
living thing. These tragic events helped bind the citizens and the local
and federal governments into a strong problem-solving union. Tulsa District
professionals developed a spirit and dedication which has carried the district
through more than 50 years of service to the nation.
Tulsa District Chronology
- July 1,
1939 - Tulsa District is formed and receives $11 million for
work on eight authorized projects. District work includes completing
the Great Salt Plains and Fort Supply Lakes already under construction;
design and construction work on authorized Canton, Optima, and Hulah
Lakes; continue studies leading to authorization of Mannford (Keystone),
Oologah, Tenkiller Ferry, and Wister Lakes; and continue cooperation
on work for Grand Lake (then under construction) and Markham Ferry and
Fort Gibson Dams.
- December
1940 - Military construction for the Army Air Corps is transferred
from the Quartermaster Corps to the Corps of Engineers. Thirteen months
later, the Corps undertakes all construction for the Army’s war
efforts.
- Early 1941
- Tulsa District is building the Tulsa Aircraft Assembly Plant #3, (the
Bomber Plant) which became home of McDonnell Douglas in Tulsa, Okla.
Construction began on the $29 million Midwest City Air Depot (now Tinker
Air Force Base) and the Oklahoma Aircraft Assembly Plant #5 in Oklahoma
City which was annexed into Tinker in 1947 as Building 3001.
- December
7, 1941 - Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, triggering U.S. entry
into World War II (1941 - 1945). During the war, Tulsa and Denison Districts
placed $800 million in military construction and procured special engineering
equipment costing more than $100 million.
- 1944 -
Flood Control Act authorizes recreation facilities at reservoirs.
- April 1,
1945 - Denison District is merged with the Tulsa District after
Denison Dam (Lake Texoma) was completed by the Denison District in 1944.
- July 24, 1946
- McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River navigation project is authorized in
Rivers and Harbors Act. The plan includes navigation from Catoosa, Okla.,
to the Mississippi River.
- 1950-1953
- Korean Conflict. Tulsa District military construction averages
$50 million a year.
- 1954 -
Arkansas River navigation is placed in a “deferred for further
study” category. A major engineering problem needed to be solved
— 100 million tons of silt flowing down the Arkansas annually could
prevent navigation.
- 1957 -
Navigation system construction begins.
- July 1961
- Tulsa District is relieved of all military construction responsibilities
to reemphasize its increasing civil works programs.
- 1965-1973
- Vietnam War.
- December
30, 1970 - McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System
is ready for use: 448 miles, 17 locks and dams.
- January
21, 1971 - First tow travels full length of navigation system,
arrives at Port of Catoosa.
- June 5,
1971 - President Nixon dedicates $1.2 billion navigation system.
- 1972 -
Clean Water Act extends Corps regulatory authority (Section 404 Permits)
to all waters of the United States.
- October
1, 1980 - The portion of the Tulsa District lying within the
state of Arkansas is transferred to the Little Rock District.
- 1981 -
Tulsa District resumes military responsibility for four installations
in Arkansas and five in Oklahoma.
- 1982 -
Tulsa District gives up the small pieces of Missouri, New Mexico, and
Colorado and picks up the remainder of the Arkansas River Basin in Kansas.
- August
1985 - After a November 1984 fire destroyed 17 acres of the
roof of Building 3001, Tinker Air Force Base, Tulsa District completes
the $63.5 million repairs.
- October
1, 1985 - Tulsa assumes duties for two Air Force bases and
one Department of Energy plant in the Texas panhandle; Arkansas military
installations are shifted to the Little Rock District.
- 1986 -
Passage of an omnibus water bill, the Water Resources Development Act
of 1986 which was the first omnibus bill in 16 years, authorizes numerous
projects for Tulsa District and heralds a new era of local/federal cost-sharing
partnership.
- 1989 -
Tulsa became the Design Center for the Hazardous, Toxic, and Radiological
Waste program for the entire five state Southwestern Division area.
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