Eddie Belk Receives Rare Award From WCI 

“What many folks may not realize is that the Corps currently has more navigation locks and dams under construction or undergoing major rehabilitation than at any time in modern history. While much work remains, it represents an incredible achievement by the navigation industry, Congress and the administration.”

That is Eddie Belk, speaking to The Waterways Journal shortly after being honored by the Waterways Council Inc. with the prestigious Counsel Award. A rare distinction presented only five times in WCI’s 23-year history, this award recognizes individuals whose leadership, innovation and dedication have made a lasting impact on the nation’s waterways and the many organizations that steward them.

During his 38-year tenure with the Corps, Belk has held just about every leadership position it is possible to hold. He retired from the Corps as director of civil works in 2025, joining the firm of Waggoner Engineering.

Belk headed the Civil Works Program across the United States and its territories and across all national accounts (investigations, construction, operations and maintenance, Mississippi River and tributaries, etc.) and business lines (navigation, flood risk management, ecosystem restoration, hydropower, recreation, regulatory, emergency response, etc.), working closely with senior administration officials, Congressional leaders, subcommittee staff and local project partners. He provided leadership and supervision for the Civil Works Directorate with national staff oversight for program management, planning, engineering, operations, regulatory and emergency response activities across all civil works programs.

Prior to his stint as director of Civil Works, Belk served as the director of programs for the Mississippi Valley Division and the Mississippi River Commission in Vicksburg, Miss. He was the principal adviser to the commander of the Mississippi Valley Division and president of the Mississippi River Commission for the development, defense and execution of the Civil Works Program across the 12 states served by the Mississippi Valley Division. Prior to that, he served as chief of operations for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Corps headquarters in Washington, D.C.

His portfolio has included responsibility, not just for infrastructure, but for Corps operational programs such as hydroelectric power, public recreation, environmental restoration, wildlife management, project cyber security and the regulatory oversight of waterways and wetlands.

In short, there is no single person who has a more intimate knowledge of the achievements and challenges of the Corps in all its programs.

Belk fully understands the Corps’ “wicked math problem” as laid out by Theodore “Tab” Brown, chief of the Programs Integration Division of the Corps of Engineers’ Directorate of Civil Works, at a recent Waterways Symposium. Despite Congress stepping up several times in recent years, the Corps still doesn’t have everything it needs to fully restore the nation’s lock and dam system, which was largely built in the 1930s. Many components of that system have long exceeded their design life.

Belk, though, remains optimistic.

“We will get this sorted out,” he said. “It’s too important not to. The benefits are too great. Our lock and dam and waterways systems often go unnoticed when they are working, but they absolutely get noticed when they are not.”

The Corps’ close partnership with industry is essential to that effort, he said, and the Inland Waterways Users board is key to that partnership. After three solicitations, the IWUB has been reconstituted and is due to meet before official terms begin in May. Belk said he doesn’t have any insider information about how the board will structure its members’ terms, but he notes that, in past administrations when it was also dissolved and reconstituted, it managed terms of board members so that they are staggered to avoid a complete turnover.

“To me, the IWUB remains an essential element for continued progress across our nation’s Inland Marine Transportation System,” he said. “Their executive composition and practical experience carries the gravitas to speak with knowledge and authority on behalf of the maritime industry when it comes to national IMTS priorities, concerns and requirements. So the IWUB remains a vital navigation industry partner for the Corps.

“This is a team sport … The Corps and industry have to work together,” Belk added. “Both have been and will continue to do so.”

Besides honoring Belk, WCI presented U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.), chairman of the House Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, with the organization’s 23rd Annual Leadership Service Award in recognition for his work to champion the nation’s inland waterways and the Chickamauga Lock project. The award was presented at a Capitol Hill reception.