Malcomb Receives USACE National Quality Professional Award

Allen Malcomb, chief of quality assurance for the Nashville Engineer District’s Chickamauga Lock Resident Office, has been awarded the Corps’ National Quality Professional of the Year (Construction) award for his work on the Chickamauga Lock Replacement Project.

The award recognizes individuals in construction who have shown leadership in developing or implementing quality processes and controls, have integrated those processes into their work and have shared their experience to help others. The award was first established in 2023.

“[Malcomb’s] indefatigable attitude and unwavering focus have been a pillar of excellence for the Corps of Engineers and have ensured that the contractor is accountable for delivering a quality project,” the Nashville Engineer District said. “His effective leadership and technical expertise have ensured his place as a critical member of the delivery of this project of national importance. Despite competing demands for his time, the nomination demonstrated that he always makes the time to mentor his employees, a new contractor quality control manager or assist a colleague in need.”

Malcomb received a master’s degree in building construction from Auburn University. In 2010, he joined the Corps as a summer student engineer trainee on the Wolf Creek Dam Foundation Rehabilitation project in Jamestown, Ky. He completed the project as the quality assurance team lead and has continued to work on dam safety and navigation projects along the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers throughout his career. He stepped into his current role in 2021.

The new lock, which will replace the original lock built in 1940, is approximately 70 percent completed and is projected to reduce transit times for commercial vessels by 80 percent. The new chamber will measure 110 feet by 600 feet and is expected to be operational by 2028.

Malcomb’s team of 10, including geologists, engineers and construction professionals, ensures that work being done on the Chickamauga Lock Replacement Project is done efficiently and safely. The team analyzes work at the lock, manages safety standards and handles environmental requirements.

“I may be the person receiving the award, but there is a whole team around me that does a great job that allows me to focus on the roles I need to perform,” Malcomb said. “Receiving this award is a true testament of the awesome work being performed by the entire Chickamauga Lock team. I hope everyone who has worked on the Chickamauga Lock project feels like they won this award as well because it has been a total team effort. It is truly unbelievable to be recognized for this award when you are just one person in a major team like this.”

According to the Corps, Malcomb’s team reviews more than 6,000 submittals, responds to 700 requests for information and maintains 100 percent inspection coverage on more than 1,100 concrete placements, totaling more than 257,000 cubic yards. Malcomb’s oversight also includes 14 underwater drilled shafts.

“When you look at the metrics, Allen and his team’s efforts on both the Chickamauga Lock Chamber and Upstream Approach Walls projects have been Herculean,” said Tommy Long, resident engineer for the Chickamauga Lock Resident Office. “His 15 years of civil works construction knowledge and his sustained determination to achieve excellence day in and day out ensure we get the construction right, safely.”

According to the Nashville Engineer District, the upstream approach walls contract, which was awarded to CJ Mahan Construction Company, is scheduled for completion by the end of 2025. Work will include the placement of four 450-ton, 113-foot, 6-inch post-tensioned reinforced concrete beams. The Chickamauga Lock chamber contract, awarded to Shimmick Construction, will also have all mass concrete placed by the end of the year, with work progressing on installation of the 30-foot-tall upper and 71-foot-tall lower miter gates.

Featured image caption: Allen Malcomb (center), chief of quality assurance for the Chickamauga Lock Replacement Project, points out sections of the coffer dam during a pre-proposal site visit, March 4, 2025, in Chattanooga, Tenn. (Photo by Michael Davis/Corps of Engineers)