Mobile District completes project in historic Selma on bank along Edmund Pettus Bridge

MOBILE, Ala. – Sometimes, the work of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers finds them helping to preserve or protect historic locations and sites.

The Mobile District participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the City of Selma, Alabama, on July 8, 2024, to celebrate the completion of Project 14, which stabilized the bank behind the historic train depot.

The completed project stabilized the bank on the Alabama River near the depot and also not far from the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the site of the Civil Rights Marches in 1965, which helped lead to the passage of the Civil Rights Act.

“This project aligns with the civil works mission that the Corps of Engineers has,” Lt. Col. Gary Cutler, Mobile District deputy commander. “So, I think this is an important step in delivering this project, and we are very glad that we could partner with the City of Selma and deliver a solution for them.”

The City of Selma has been experiencing problems along the bank of the Alabama River near the Edmund Pettus Bridge for years. Flooding from the river has made the bank unstable, which has also made the old, historic buildings along the bank unstable.

This was the first project among several still in the design phase to be completed, strengthening and stabilizing the bank near the bridge.

Originally initiated by the Obama administration in 2014, Project 14 was completed to the delight of Selma Mayor James Perkins, Jr.

“You can’t talk about the relationship between the Corps of Engineers and Selma without talking about the Biden administration and how they brought all of us together on a project that’s over 10 years old and were able to bring the money to the community to get this done,” Perkins said. “All I have to say to the corps of engineers is thank you.”

Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works Jaime Pinkham, who participated in the celebration, said protecting significant historic sites like Selma is the type of project that the corps needs to be doing so these sites can be preserved for future generations to visit and enjoy.

“What you see in these treasured landscapes like here in Selma are fundamental to the story of this nation, and preserving that story also means preserving the place where the stories are born,” Pinkham said. “I’ve been intrigued by our commitment to look at not just the economic outcomes of our projects but also other community benefits, societal benefits, and environmental benefits that sometimes you don’t always capture when you come up with cost-benefit analysis. That applies to places like Selma, where it’s part of the community’s history. Part of the societal values are here, and we’ve got to do what we can to preserve them through our civil works mission.”

With one project, stabilizing the bank of the Alabama River in Selma, completed, Mayor Perkins is looking forward to further working with the Mobile District and said this is an important first step in completely stabilizing the bank so future generations can enjoy Selma.

“This is the first step in stabilizing the riverbank,” Perkins said. “We are a community that relies heavily on tourism. What a better way to get people to come to your community and stay in your community than a stabilized riverbank on both sides. The corps is getting the work done, and that’s exceptional to us.”