Army Corps hires engineers for two stretches of Charleston’s Battery extension

The Army Corps of Engineers has moved from studying Charleston’s planned storm surge barrier to engineering parts of it.

The Corps’ Charleston District said Sept. 29 that it had awarded two architecture and engineering contracts totaling more than $6.2 million for the Battery extension to the Stantec-JMT Joint Venture of North Charleston.

A $2.91 million contract, issued Aug. 26, covers a 35% concept design for the Adger’s Wharf waterfront, from East Bay Street to the southern end of Waterfront Park. A $3.31 million contract, issued Sept. 22, covers a 10% design along Lockwood Drive and the Ashley River, including soil borings, land and water surveys, utility investigations and environmental studies, the Corps said.

“We are moving from high-level studies into active, on-the-ground engineering,” said Wes Wilson, the district’s project manager, in the announcement.

The Adger’s Wharf segment runs roughly 1,000 feet and the Lockwood segment about 8,000 feet, WCSC Live 5 reported. Work at Adger’s Wharf is expected from October through December, and barge crews could work along Lockwood into early next year, the station reported.

A separate Charleston District contract targets flooding in the Medical District. On Sept. 25, the Pentagon announced a $9,629,548 contract to Ruby-Collins Inc. of Smyrna, Georgia, to upgrade and expand a stormwater pump station in Charleston. Five companies bid, and the work is due by March 17, 2028.

The station serves the Medical University of South Carolina drainage basin, a low point with no natural outlet, according to the Corps’ solicitation. The job adds pump and discharge pipe capacity, lifts critical electrical and HVAC equipment above the design flood elevation, installs a larger transformer and adds a permanent bypass. Temporary pumps will keep the station running during construction.

The Corps is also studying flooding from rain and high tides in West Ashley, James Island and on the peninsula. The district set an Oct. 16 deadline for public comments and expects to release a draft report in spring 2027.