D&A Senior Advisor Jim Durkay
The Poe Lock on the St. Mary’s River is an engineering masterpiece. It’s also one of the most crucial links in the country’s iron ore supply chain, according to a recent report from the Department of Homeland Security.
This report is the subject of a recent profile on Michigan Live, which specializes in news from around the state. Reporter Garret Ellison looked at the Poe Lock’s role in manufacturing and interstate commerce, noting that the Poe is the only lock capable of handling the 1,000+-foot freighters that carry 70% of Great Lakes cargo.
Ellison reached out to our colleague Jim Durkay, who spent more than 25 years in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, for perspective on federal funding priorities for crucial infrastructure projects. As Jim notes in the article, “We respond to infrastructure challenges when a disaster occurs. A disaster will catch the attention of elected officials [and] this report is telling elected officials a disaster might happen.”
A member of the Dawson team since 1999, Jim helped execute the Corps’ responses to the Supplemental Appropriations Act of 1985 and write crucial following legislation, the Water Resources Development Act of 1986 (WRDA).
To read the article, click here.
Maj. Gen. (Ret) Don Riley Senior Vice President