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Corps awards contract to continue interim repairs on levee systems

Published Dec. 17, 2019
Cedar Creek

Cedar Creek

L-611-614 levee

L-611-614 levee.

 The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District awarded a $12 million construction contract to Klutina River Contractors of Irvine, Calif. Friday to continue interim repairs on the Missouri River Levee System L-594.

The focus of this contract will be the closure of two of the outlet breaches on the levee system directly west of Thurman, Iowa. The third and final breach that would then remain on the levee system may be added to the project via modification at a later date. These initial beach closures will provide an interim level of flood risk management benefits to the area behind the levee system until final repairs can be made on the system. The period of performance for these repairs is approximately four months.

“The extent of damages on the Missouri River Levee Systems has required that the team take incremental steps in making the repairs, due to funding and contractual constraints, and this contract is the next step in making those repairs and restoring the Missouri River Levee Systems,” said Jeff Bohlken, Program Manager for the Omaha District Systems Restoration Team.

Just upstream on Missouri River Levee System L-611-614 the outlet breach was closed on Dec. 6. This is the first closed system on the left bank of the Missouri River that was damaged during the March 2019 flooding. The breach closure stopped inflows through the system and will allow for follow on construction activities to continue to increase the level of flood risk management for the entire area behind the system.

“This breach closure is a milestone for the flood recovery effort, as this marks the first of the left bank Missouri River Levee Systems that were severely damaged by the March flood event to be fully closed. However, the team knows that we still have a lot of work ahead of us and will continue to try and repair the damaged levees as quickly and efficiently as possible,” said Mary Darling, Project Manager for the Omaha District Systems Restoration Team.

On the tributary projects, the Cedar Creek, Platte River Levee Repair Project was completed on Dec. 12. This is the fifth full repair construction project on the tributary systems to be completed. It is also the first project to be completed on a non-federal levee system, which requires a 20% cost-share from the non-federal sponsor.

“This repair project required a considerable financial investment from the levee sponsors, the Omaha Fish & Wildlife Club and the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District. I believe this is a good testament to not only how committed the Corps of Engineers is—but also the levee sponsors, are to getting the levee systems repaired following the March 2019 flooding,” said Trish Lambert, Deputy Chief for the Omaha District Systems Restoration Team.

There are more than 500 miles of levees on the Missouri, Platte and Elkhorn rivers, and tributaries that experienced significant flood damage since March 2019. Due to the magnitude of damage along these levees, repair of the levee system efforts will take an extended period of time to complete.

Omaha District’s focus remains on ensuring the safety of citizens and communicating the conditions on the river systems to all of our partners and stakeholders. The Corps continues to provide flood fight assistance to state, local and tribal government agencies.

For regular updates on the repair efforts to flood control structures in the Missouri River Basin, visit the Omaha District’s System Restoration web page at: https://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/Omaha-District-System-Restoration-Team/.


Release no. 19-144