New Corps Project Aims to Stop Invasive Carp

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District, and the states of Illinois and Michigan signed a project partnership agreement this week for the Brandon Road Interbasin Project, moving the project forward into the construction phase. This milestone agreement allows $274 million in federal funding, including $226 million provided by President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and $114 million in state funding to be used for construction of the first of three construction increments of the $1.15 billion project designed to prevent the upstream movement of aquatic nuisance species into the Great Lakes.

Brandon Road Lock and Dam near Joliet, Illinois, has been identified as the critical pinch point where layered technologies could be used to stop invasive carp populations from moving into the Great Lakes. If they become established in the Great Lakes, invasive carp could outcompete native species and greatly harm the ecosystems of the entire Great Lakes region and its over $20 billion fishing and boating industries.

The Brandon Road Interbasin Project will implement a complex series of innovative deterrents at the Brandon Rock Lock and Dam site to prevent upstream movement of invasive carp and other aquatic nuisance species on the Illinois Waterway.

With the project partnership agreement signed, contracts for fabrication, continued design, leading edged deterrents and bedrock removal are now slated for solicitation in the coming weeks. Interested contractors can visit the website listed below for additional details. https://www.mvr.usace.army.mil/DesktopModules/ArticleCS/Print.aspx?PortalId=48&ModuleId=17791&Article=3823287 2/3 For more information visit: www.mvr.usace.army.mil/BRIP/ or contact the USACE Rock Island District by phone at 309-794-5729 or email at: cemvr-cc@usace.army.mil