U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Albuquerque District
Strengthen our Nation by providing responsive, innovative, and sustainable infrastructure and environmental solutions for our Military, IIS, and Civil Works partners and stakeholders, and responding to national emergencies as an engineering leader built to last on valued relationships and standards of excellence.
Hidden in the vastness of the American Southwest desert, the Albuquerque District stands with a uniquely diverse mission set and a rich history of supporting not only the region, but the entire Nation. Aligned under USACE’s South Pacific Division, the District footprint covers more than 200,000 square miles of Southwest support with nine USACE dams, four major military instillations, and nearly 200 miles of the Rio Grande.
The Albuquerque District was initially established as the Tucumcari District in 1935 with the building of Conchas Dam –a key point in America’s history of settling the modern Southwest. In 1944, the Albuquerque District led construction for the Trinity Test site at the Alamogordo Bombing Range in southern New Mexico, answering the Nation’s call for support and building the infrastructure for the technology that would prove to win World War II.
As the decades pass, the Albuquerque District continues to punch above its weight class –from building infrastructure for the space race to taming the Rio Grande –we’ve proven ourselves as unsung heroes in the Nation’s pursuit of 21stCentury development and military might.
Activities/Resources
Albuquerque District
As the United States struggled in the throes of the Great Depression, a new Army Corps of Engineers district was created in New Mexico under the command of Captain Hans Kramer. Although flood control and irrigation projects in the sparsely populated region of the Canadian River were not economically feasible in 1929, widespread unemployment in the early 1930's helped to convince President Franklin D. Roosevelt to approve the building of Conchas Dam.
Night construction on Conchas Dam, N.M., 1939.The Corps established the Tucumcari District on August 2, 1935, to construct a dam for the purposes of irrigation, flood control, and water supply. As activities increased at the site, the local economy received a much-needed boost. This infusion of federal funds and WPA labor gradually spread to include a broad area of the state. The success of the project was a major consideration in the eventual expansion of the district’s boundaries to include other watersheds in the states of Colorado and Texas, as well as New Mexico.
With the completion of the Conchas project, John Martin Dam at Caddoa, Colorado, became the new focal point of district activity. Tucumcari District personnel transferred to Caddoa and on December 4, 1939, the organizational name was officially changed to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Caddoa District. Work proceeded there until the dam was 85 percent complete. With the world at war, however, construction at John Martin Dam was temporarily put on hold.
Soon after the onset of World War II, in early 1942, the district headquarters was transferred to Albuquerque and given its current name along with an additional mission. Switching from civil works projects to wartime activities, and with a peak workforce of 3,039 people, the Albuquerque District performed real estate and construction services in support of numerous military projects in the region. Among those projects was the work at Los Alamos Laboratory where scientists labored in development of atomic energy and its application to weapons.
John Martin Dam - 1940sAfter the war, the district resumed civil works construction and completed John Martin Dam. Other major projects followed in the ensuing years. They are, in chronological order: Jemez Canyon Dam, Abiquiu Dam, Two Rivers Dam, and Cochiti Dam in New Mexico; Trinidad Dam in Colorado, and Santa Rosa Dam in New Mexico.
Today, the district continues several regional civil works projects. In addition, it now provides extensive design and construction services to three New Mexico military bases: Kirtland Air Force Base in Albuquerque, Holloman Air Force Base in Alamogordo, and Cannon Air Force Base in Clovis.
Activity/Resource Website: https://www.spa.usace.army.mil/
Contact Information
Julie Woodruff
Workforce Management Administrator
Julie.m.woodruff@usace.army.mil
