OMAHA, NE – A draft feasibility report and environmental assessment (EA) for stream bank restoration near Monroe, Nebraska. 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 Loup River in Platte County, Nebraska. Public infrastructure being protected includes the 370th Avenue county road bridge and road approach located south of Monroe.
“The draft feasibility study report and environmental assessment is the result of a comprehensive study conducted by the Corps in cooperation with Platte County,” said Mark Nelson, 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: Starting in 2010, severe bank erosion along the Loup River immediately upstream of the 370th Avenue bridge, located south of Monroe, Nebraska. has continued to progress rapidly downstream towards the bridge and road approach. Because of the rate at which the river bank is eroding, including complete loss of the adjacent riparian buffer, it has been determined that the county road approach to the 370th Avenue bridge is imminently threatened. Loss of the approach road leading to the bridge would have economic impacts as this is a major primary roadway in the area with no close alternatives nearby to cross the Loup River. The road also serves as a major emergency route and as a secondary connecter between NE Highway 22 and US Highway 30.
The draft feasibility study report/EA is available for viewing online. A hard copy is also available at the Public Library in Columbus. Comments can be mailed to: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District; CENWO-PM-AA; ATTN: Loup River 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 April 1, 2016.
Release no. 20160318-001