Photo By Janet Meredith | The Bois Brule Levee and Drainage District along with members of the Project Delivery...... read more read more
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, St. Louis District, leadership held a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the closeout of the Bois Brule Levee Deficiency Correction Project Dec. 6, that provides resilient infrastructure for flood risk reduction within the 26,000 acres of agricultural lands, commercial businesses and homes in the area protected by the levee.
Ongoing efforts led by St. Louis District’s interdisciplinary project delivery team with support from the project sponsor, the Bois Brule Levee Drainage and Levee District, wrap up Bois Brule Deficiency Correction Project.
The deficiencies corrected include underseepage and inadequate levee grade issues along the Bois Brule levee in Perry County, Missouri, and Randolph County, Illinois, located on the right descending bank of the Upper Mississippi River between river miles 94 and 111.
Members of the Perry County Drainage and Levee Districts Nos. 1, 2, and 3, will also be in attendance along with local, state and federal officials and community members attended the ceremony outside of the Missouri Chute Pump Station.
St. Louis District Commander, Col. Andy Pannier commended the partnership by noting, “This completed levee system will reduce risk for the Perry and Randolph County communities by restoring the level of protection to the way the system was designed. We look forward to a continued partnership with the Bois Brule levee district and are proud to hand over this completed project.”
The Bois Brule Levee initially constructed in 1968 by authority of the 1936 Flood Control Act was originally known as Perry County Drainage and Levee Districts Nos. 1, 2, and 3, Missouri. The district consisted of approximately 33 miles of earthen embankment; two railroad closures and one highway closure with associated floodwall transitions; seven federal pump stations; nine active gravity drains and associated ditching network; 589 relief wells; more than 60 piezometers; miles of seepage berms; and a 7,000-linear-foot seepage cutoff trench. In 1976, the levee district reorganized to the Bois Brule Levee and Drainage District with the mission to provide protection for agricultural land, commercial businesses and homes in and around the Villages of McBride, Claryville and Beliqique in Perry County, Mo.
Just prior to the crest of the 1993 flood, the levee failed near Menfro, Mo., due to underseepage, flooding the entire levee district to a depth of twenty feet. This flood damaged an estimated $13 million in agriculture crops, impacted many homes and businesses, including Sabreliner Aviation at Perryville Regional Airport, the Gilster Mary-Lee Corporation and closed the Chester, Ill., bridge for sixty-eight days. The 1993 historic crest at 49.74 feet remains the highest to date at the Perry County riverfront.
Studies of the deficiencies identified after the 1993 historic and catastrophic flooding led to the Bois Brule Deficiency Report. In 2003, the report outlined multiple deficiencies and functioned as the decision document supporting the Project Cooperation Agreement between the levee district and the federal government. While in disrepair, the 2009 Flood caused two levee slides while the 2015/16 Winter Flood caused three more levee slides to the Bois Brule Levee.
In total, this project cost $44,686,331 requiring twenty-one contracting actions and was 100 percent federally funded with the non-federal sponsor providing land and relocation support. The deficiency correction restored 4.2 miles of the levee elevation by raising it two feet on each side of the pumping stations thus requiring the levee district to acquire an additional 25-acres for right-of-way. The project relocated 240-feet of public highway and implemented four advanced pumping stations with 115, 175 and 175 cubic feet per second pumping power, installed 297 updated relief wells, 68 piezometers, added 8,485 linear feet of seepage berms and a 7,000-foot-long clay-filled seepage cutoff trench. The pumping stations located at Missouri Chute, Cinque Hommes and Jones Cutoff gravity drainage outlets incorporated innovative technologies optimized for energy efficiency and resiliency and lower the yearly operating costs and maintenance at each pump station.
Through construction upgrades, this reconstruction project substantially enhanced the reliability and structural integrity of the Bois Brule Levee to its authorized level of protection for the purpose of reducing flood risk to 26,347 acres of predominately agricultural land, small businesses, major manufacturers, a municipal airport, and several residences within the villages of McBride, Belgique, and Menfro, Mo.
The Bois Brule Deficiency Correction overseen by Project Manager Abby Hoyt and her team at the St. Louis District, provided quality assurance, contract administration, cost estimates and command-level accountability for all construction.
“Bois Brule levee now has the capability to meet the challenges presented by high water, and the levee system has the expanded capacity and flexibility it needs to reduce flooding from the overflow of water from the river,” said Abby Hoyt, Project Manager. Hoyt acknowledged that there were lessons learned and was thankful for all the team had accomplished and the stakeholders for remaining flexible, fluid and adaptable as the team worked through the challenges of this project.
The mission of the community-focused Bois Brule Drainage and Levee District in Perryville, Mo., is managing and maintaining levees with long-term maintenance and planning to ensure ongoing requirements completed routinely along the entire 36-mile levee district keep the flood control system and its components working properly.
“This project has been a long time coming with many trials and tribulations along the way, I feel that we are in a better place now in terms of levee protection and appreciate the feedback to assess our projects and make sure we get everything right”, said Col. Andy Pannier, St. Louis District, commander.
| Date Taken: | 12.06.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 12.09.2024 14:14 |
| Story ID: | 487010 |
| Location: | ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, US |
| Web Views: | 98 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Many Celebrate Completion of Bois Brule Levee Project, by Janet Meredith, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
