Army Corps of Engineers

Army Corps of Engineers, principal engineering component of the United States Army. The top command structure of the corps is run by the Army. The workforce is made up almost entirely of civilians, with only a small percentage of the workforce being Army personnel except in active combat situations.

The Army Corps of Engineers dates from June 16, 1775, when the Continental Congress authorized a chief engineer and two assistants for the army during the American Revolution. They prepared the fortifications for the Battle of Bunker Hill. The engineers were permanently organized into a corps in 1802.

Originally, the duties of the Corps of Engineers were strictly military: combat engineering, coastal fortification, topographical surveying, and mapmaking. The scarcity of trained civil engineers led Congress to pass the General Survey Act in 1824, to allow army engineers to undertake nonmilitary duties, such as canal, road, and railroad surveys; lighthouse construction; and river and harbor improvement. The corps also planned and built important public buildings in Washington, D.C., among them the Capitol of the United States, Lincoln Memorial, Library of Congress, and Washington Monument. For the construction of the Panama Canal, the chief engineer and many aides were selected from the Corps of Engineers. During World War II (1939-1945) the corps built the Alaska Highway and was involved in the construction of the nuclear production plants used in the Manhattan Project leading to the first atomic bomb.

The work of the corps is divided between military and civil projects. Programs have included construction for the Army and Air Force and environmental restoration of areas contaminated by toxic wastes. The civil program has centered on development of water resources, including navigation improvement, hydroelectric power, flood control, recreation, and conservation of fish and wildlife. The corps also provides emergency assistance in the wake of disasters such as floods and hurricanes. Its traditional combat engineering functions, such as clearance of minefields, construction of field fortifications, and erection of bridges in theaters of operations, are carried out by engineers assigned to various U.S. Army combat units.