OMAHA, Neb. – A draft feasibility report and environmental assessment for stream bank restoration near Tilden, Neb. is currently available for public review. The report identifies alternatives to provide stream bank protection and prohibit further rapid erosion on the right-descending bank of the Elkhorn River, Madison County, Neb. Public infrastructure being protected includes the 536th Avenue county road bridge.
“The draft feasibility study report and environmental assessment is the result of a comprehensive study conducted by the Corps in cooperation with Madison County,” said Gwyn Jarrett, project manager. “The study was carried out under Section 14 of the Flood Control Act of 1946, as amended.” Section 14 provides the Corps with authority to study, adopt, and construct emergency stream bank and shoreline protection projects to protect public highways and bridges, other public works, and nonprofit public services such as churches, hospitals, and schools and other non-profit facilities offering public services.
Background: The Elkhorn River is a meandering stream with extremely flat gradients and very small channel capacities in relation to its drainage area. Rainfall in the spring often combines with annual plains snowmelt to produce floods that exceed the Elkhorn’s channel capacities and spread onto the broad flood plain. Over the past decade, bank erosion and channel migration has occurred near Tilden, and in 2010, flooding caused the channel meander to move near its historic limit and threaten the roadway and roadway embankment. Benefits of this Section 14 Emergency Streambank Project would include (1) preventing damage to the road and bridge infrastructure from flood and storm events, and (2) providing continued access to the north-south river crossing in the vicinity of Tilden.
The draft feasibility study report/EA is available for viewing at: http://www.nwo.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/Planning/EnvironmentalPlanning/DraftDocuments.aspx. Copies will also be available at the Tilden Public Library. Comments can be mailed to: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District; CENWO-PM-AA; ATTN: Tilden Section 14 Study; 1616 Capitol Avenue; Omaha, NE 68102-4901. Comments can also be emailed to: cenwo-planning@usace.army.mil. Comments must be postmarked or received no later than March 17, 2014.
Release no. 20140214-001