Omaha Engineer District Repairs Two More Levee Breaches

The Omaha Engineer District reported January 28 that two outlet breaches on the Missouri River Levee System L-594 were closed on Saturday.

These are the third and fourth breaches to be closed on the L-594 system, providing an initial level of flood risk management to the area behind this downstream portion of the levee, located west of Thurman, Iowa.  The Corps team and contractor will continue finalizing repairs at these breach locations while also focusing on the one remaining outlet breach.

Corina Zhang, resident engineer for the L-594 Project, said, “Even with the recent winter weather, the team has remained steadfast in their commitment to restoring the L-594 levee system. This team is comprised of companies that are often times direct competitors but have come together under the common goal of repairing the damaged levee system that is vitally important to the communities and landowners behind it. Closing these two breaches is a direct reflection of the field team’s leadership and problem-solving mentality.”

The Omaha District also awarded a $4.7 million construction contract to Blade Masters Ground Maintenance of Bennington January 24.  This contract will repair the Salt Creek Levee systems in Lincoln, Neb.  There is an estimated $1.1 billion in property that receives flood risk management benefits from the Salt Creek Levee systems.

“Due to the unprecedented workload we saw following the 2019 flooding, we worked with [Omaha-based engineering firm] HDR to design this levee repair project. This project is a perfect example of how the team is leveraging resources from outside the district to ensure we get all of these levee repair projects under contract as quickly as possible,” said Eric McKinney, project manager for the Omaha District Systems Restoration Team.