In the News

GRAND RIVERS, Ky. — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District, in partnership with the contractor currently working on the Kentucky Lock project, Thalle Construction, celebrated a significant safety milestone with a ceremony, July 30, 2024. The event honored the achievement of surpassing one million man-hours without a lost time accident, a testament to the unwavering commitment to safety by all involved.

For every hour worked by a construction contractor employee at the jobsite, the project accrues a man-hour. A lost time accident is a mishap with a severity that requires the employee to miss one or more days of work to recover. In over two years working the Kentucky Lock project, Thalle Construction has not had one such mishap.

The ceremony kicked off with a catered meal that Thalle Construction provided for all of their employees and was followed by remarks from USACE and Thalle leadership.

Maj. Gen. Mark Quander, USACE Great Lakes and Ohio River Division commander, expressed his gratitude to the workforce. “We’re very grateful as we continue to deliver this incredibly important critical infrastructure project,” said Quander. “What we always say in the Corps is we are going to do stuff on time, on budget, and safely. And I can’t overemphasize how important that safely part is.”

The ceremony acknowledged the hard work and dedication of over 350 workers involved in the project, which includes 21 safety professionals.

“It’s very exciting to me that we have a group of workers that wants to be safe,” said Bill Ryan, vice president of risk management for Thalle Construction. “We’re developing an important safety culture here.”

Also in attendance at the ceremony was Lt. Col. Robert Green, USACE Nashville District commander, who took the time to recognize and award his commander’s coin to three individuals from the Thalle Construction team who have led by example as part of the overall culture of safety.

Green also spoke about the importance of safety in ensuring a positive legacy for those involved in building something great, rather than a negative legacy marred by tragic mishap.

“I think that each and every one of us wants to go home and tell our kids that, ‘hey, I was part of building that.’ And when they bring their kids back here, they can tell them ‘my granddad or grandma was a part of building that’,” said Green. “And the thing that will ruin that legacy is a safety incident; somebody dies or gets seriously injured and that becomes the legacy of this project, and that’s not what any of us want.”

The new Kentucky Lock is scheduled to be completed in 2029, and safety will continue to be a priority for USACE and Thalle Construction.

“This isn’t the finish line,” said Ryan. “We have to keep going, and maybe we can make it to three million man-hours, but we are going to try and we’ll try real hard.”

The public can obtain news, updates and information from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District on the district’s website at https://www.lrd.usace.army.mil/About/Districts/Nashville-District/, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/nashvillecorps and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/nashvillecorps. Follow us on LinkedIn for the latest Nashville District employment and contracting opportunities at https://www.linkedin.com/company/u-s-army-corps-of-engineers-nashville-district.