M E M O R A N D U M
TO: Reporters and Editors
RE: Southwest Iowa Levee Repairs
DA: Wednesday, Feb. 29, 2012
Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey issued the following statement on the announcement today by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) that five levee breaches along the Missouri River between Council Bluffs and just below the Missouri state line have been restored following the 2011 flooding. The full release from the USACE on the levee repairs follows the Northey comment.
Northey’s statement:
“The Corps worked hard to get this done and they deserve credit. This will give the families protected by these levees more confidence as we go into the spring runoff season. A critical part of making this happen was the community leaders and impacted land owners actively participating in the process. I appreciate the Corps working with these stakeholders and being responsive to their concerns.
“Governor Branstad and the Iowa’s Congressional delegation have also been supportive and deserve credit for making sure the Corps has the resources and support necessary to make these needed repairs.”
For Immediate Release: February 29, 2012
Contact: Kevin Wingert, 402-995-2418 kevin.m.wingert@usace.army.mil
Bret Budd 402-995-2023 bret.t.budd@usace.army.mil
Corps reaches deadline on the most critical time sensitive levee repairs
OMAHA, NE – Rockport. Hamburg. Council Bluffs., Names on a map.
In the summer of 2011, though, they were so much more: Communities fighting a rising tide of water that threatened to wash away everything. In some places, levees held and a crisis was averted. In other places, the levees failed and lives were disrupted.
But throughout the Missouri River Basin, there were many flood control structures stressed or broken that held little chance of functioning properly even as the 2012 runoff season approached. Tensions in these and similar towns and cities ran high.
Now those communities can take comfort in knowing that much of the flood ris k reduction in the basin has been restored. The five breaches along Missouri River Levee Units L575 and L550 are closed. Several critically damaged segments of levee from Omaha and Council Bluffs south to just below the Missouri state line are restored and ready to handle high water if the mild winter worsens.
"We topped out the lower breach on Missouri River Levee Unit L575 on Tuesday morning," said Bret Budd, the chief of the Omaha District Systems Restoration Team. "It was the last of the five breaches we’ve completed in the past month-and-a-half. The contractor worked 24-hour shifts to ensure that we completed the work prior to March 1."
March 1 is the typical start of the runoff season for the year, when the first significant amounts of water from melting plains snowpack enters the Missouri River. It is a date fraught with meaning for businesses, residents, farmers and advocacy groups like Responsible River Management.
"We sat down with the people of the Basin – we sat down with Responsible River Management and the sponsors, and we put this March 1 date on the calendar," said Col. Bob Ruch, the commander of the Omaha District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. "And working with them, we’ve met that date."
Between L575 near Percival and Hamburg, Iowa, and L550 near Watson and Rockport, Mo., contractors placed 2.7 million cubic yards of material in 86 calendar days. That’s an average of 31,000 cubic yards of material a day.
"There’s still a lot of work to go on, but we needed to get these breaches filled to the initial height with five feet of cohesive material on the front of the levee and two feet on the back," Col. Ruch said. "So we are ready for high water."
That announcement could come none-too-soon for area farmers, landowners and businesses.
"Without getting these breaches closed, absolutely nothing c an move forward – our commerce or getting back in our houses, getting our lifestyle back," said Leo Ettleman, the chairman of Responsible River Management. "Going on, moving forward – it all starts with getting the levees back."
Col. Ruch praised the efforts of groups like Responsible River Management as well as local sponsors who worked with the Omaha District, helping on real estate issues and providing crucial input into the local needs.
"We’re working with some great people down here with Responsible River Management and the levee sponsors, themselves," Col. Ruch said. "And they’ve been instrumental in getting the land we need to get these repairs done and the proper real estate so we can do the construction."
The contract for Missouri River Levee Unit L550 and L575 was awarded to Weston Solutions, Inc. While the company is based out Philadelphia, it wasted no time in reaching out locally for subcontractors.
"They’ve hired a lot of local equipment. There’s even local farmers running some of the equipment, hauling materials with their tractors," Col. Ruch said. "It’s been a team effort. The people that are going to live behind these levees and the folks that are farming behind these levees are really invested in doing this work correctly."
For their part, Ettleman said farmers and Responsible River Management appreciated taking an active part in the process of levee restoration.
"Having them listen to our concerns, they’ve been very receptive to our concerns and taken that to heart," he said. "And they’re reached out to us just as we reached out to them. So it’s worked out well."
The work of restoring flood control structures in the Public Law 84-99 program along the Missouri River Basin to their pre-flood status is far from done. What’s been accomplished t o date represents those projects that were deemed the highest risk to life safety.
The Corps focused its energy and resources on repairs and temporary fixes that could be completed in a tight timeframe. Those efforts were aided by decidedly mild weather.
"God’s blessed us with some great weather this winter to do construction. Otherwise, we really would have had a bigger challenge than we did to meet this March 1 date," Col. Ruch said. "We’ve been very fortunate. I don’t think we’ve lost three days to weather this winter. And that’s not normal for this time of year."
With the presidential signature arriving on the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act on Dec. 23, the Omaha District would find the funding for an estimated $280 million in repairs on 18 levee repair projects. Another $234 million would go to the some 100 projects at mainstems and related flood control structures and projects along the Missouri Ri ver. To implement the massive contracting actions required throughout the basin and provide the necessary safety and quality oversight on these projects, Col. Ruch formed a special execution cell, the Omaha District Systems Restoration Team.
"We brought all the program managers, project managers into one section," Col. Ruch said. "This is really a $500 million effort up and down the river. That’s a large program for any organization to run. So we brought in the right overhead to make sure that all the things are sequenced correctly and that we don’t miss anything."
To man such an effort, the district had to look beyond its borders.
"We received engineers and support from seven different districts in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, stretching from Alaska to New England to Kansas City and to the mouth of the Missouri River at St. Louis," Budd said.
With those critical repairs completed, efforts now turn to geotech nical investigations and execution on permanent solutions to restore the level of flood risk reduction in the basin. The district is drawing on resources from Mobile, Ala.; Baltimore and Savannah; including both mobile drill rigs and operators.
"When we’re resourced correctly, we meet our deadlines," Ruch said.
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– ADDITIONAL SIDE BAR INFORMATION –
Timeline on Missouri River Levee Units L550 and L575
May 2011 – Unprecedented, torrential rains in the upper basin set off a systemic flood
June through July 2011 – Continued record runoff from snowpack and regional weather events continues the need for high releases from its six mainstem dams
June 13 – Full breach of L575 (middle) occurs near Hamburg, Iowa; sponsor subsequently notches levee (lower) to reduce pressure of floodwaters and stabilize the levee
June 24 – Full breach of L550 (upper) occurs just south of Watson, Mo.; sponsor subsequently notches levee (lower) to reduce pressure of floodwaters and stabilize the levee
June 30 – Full breach of L575 (upper) occurs near Percival, Iowa
July 29 – The Corps releases a drawdown schedule to reduce releases from the mainstem dams
Sept. 6 – Damage survey reports conducted on all five breaches of L550 and L575
Oct. 17 – Flood of 2011 officially declared over
Oct. 25 – Contracts awarded on L550 and L575
Nov. 9 – Construction starts on upper breach of L550
Dec. 7 – Construction starts on upper breach of L575
Dec. 8 – Construction starts on middle breach of L575
Dec. 24 – Construction starts on lower breach of L550
Jan. 19 – Breach closed at upper L550
Jan. 26 – Construction starts on lower breach of L575
Jan. 28 – Breach closed at middle L575
Feb. 1 – Breach closed at upper L575
Feb. 24 – Breach closed at lower L550
Feb. 28 – Br each closed at lower L575
By the Numbers at L550 and L575
5 – Number of critical breach repairs
6 – Number of local construction subcontractors located within 20 miles of the breach sites
35 – Number of local operators/laborers employed by Weston directly
62 – Estimated number of local operators employed by the local subcontractors
86 – Number of calendar days spent placing material along the setback levees and near the breach sites
163 – Maximum pieces of equipment working at any one time at all sites together
220 – Maximum of number of personnel at any one time including operators, laborers, professional staff, geotech/survey personnel
320 – Number of maps with various data produced to assist engineers in design process, including for the breach sites at L550 and L575
31,000 – Number of cubic yards of material placed per day at the various breach sites
2,700,000 – Number o f cubic yards of material used in the critical repairs at L550 and L575
Contract Amounts Awarded
As of Feb. 27, 2012
Omaha Flood Protection Project (R624-627) $1.84 million
L624-627 (Council Bluffs, Iowa) $8.13 million
L611-614 (south of Council Bluffs, Iowa) $3.04 million
R616 (south of Bellevue, Neb.) $477,886
R613 (mouth of Platte, Neb.) $43,280
L601 (south of Pacific Junction, Iowa) $1.39 million
L575 (near Hamburg, Iowa) $26.47 million
Ditch 6 (Hamburg, Iowa) $71,340
R573 (south of Nebraska City, Neb.) $4.79 million
L550 (near Rockport, Mo.) $10.34 million
L536 (south of Rockport, Mo.) $5.15 million
Geotechnical data collection (various systems) $972,773
Total awards $62.73 million
