Usace Flood Wall Design

[Josefa Palsgrove]

Theproposed new floodwall will extend 3,050.23 feet from station 0+00 on the west, where it connects to the levee, to station 30+50.23 on the east, where it will re-connect to the levee. The new floodwall alignment will largely conform to the existing one, but the proposed floodwall's footprint exhibits some minor deviations.

The Caruthersville Floodwall is approximately 3,000 feet long and was originally built in 1917. The floodwall was later rebuilt in 1932 with a gravity design by the Memphis District U.S. Corps of Engineers, with sections of the 1932 floodwall incorporating the older 1917 floodwall into its design.

The floodwall is significant to Caruthersville's commerce, industry, and residences protection from flooding and collectively significant with the Memphis District's 1931 Levee Program under the Mississippi River and Tributaries Project initiated by the Flood Control Act of 1928 in the early twentieth century. However, much of the historic landscape along the floodwall has changed or disappeared. The Frisco Railroad has been razed, and the northern portion of the landside of the floodwall has a greenline/sidewalk where the railroad once was located.

Large sections of the floodwall's riverside and landside are now vacant, and large grassy lots replace what was once a booming railroad and river town. Today, the ca. 1900 Bunge North America, Inc. facility (north end of the floodwall) and 1995 Lady Luck Casino (south end of the floodwall) are the only buildings directly along the floodwall in Caruthersville.

From 1932 to 1977, the floodwall remained relatively unchanged until a study determined that the wall was unstable. Study findings prompted USACE to build a slurry trench and clay bucket on the riverside of the wall in 1978. The slurry trench was constructed at 260 feet and approximately 15 to 20 feet below the ground. Due to deterioration, extensive renovations occurred in 1984 that involved repairing expansion joints, concrete spalls, and cementation waterproof coating over any exposed surface of the floodwall.

The 1931 USACE Levee Program resulted in nearly 12,000 miles of levee/floodwall improvements in urban areas along the Lower Mississippi Valley, making the floodwall in Caruthersville a common type of flood control improvement seen in urban areas where additional right of ways were once impossible.

Additionally, no ancillary structures (i.e., reservoirs, pumping stations, etc.) were noted on the 1932 engineering plans nor visible during the survey for the Caruthersville Floodwall. For this reason, the Caruthersville Floodwall is not considered to have distinct characteristics for its engineering design. The floodwall-levee systems along the Mississippi River are inspected annually. During recent inspections, cracks and shifting were noted in certain locations along the Caruthersville Floodwall, compromising its structural integrity and weakening its effectiveness to protect against flooding.

The 1932 Caruthersville Floodwall is approximately 3,000 feet long and located on the eastern edge of downtown Caruthersville. Prior to the Mississippi River Commission's (MRC) involvement in flood control, Caruthersville had private levees but did not have any engineer-designed levee recorded as being built until 1893, when the Memphis District established the Saint Francis Levee District to construct, repair, protect, and maintain levees for Dunklin, New Madrid, and Pemiscot counties.

The 1917 floodwall protected commerce and rail lines from constant flooding. A floodwall was chosen instead of a levee, likely due to limited space within the town limits and floodwalls standing narrower than earthen levees.

The Great Flood of 1927 resulted in the Federal Government passing the Flood Control Act of 1928. This Act paved the way for the Caruthersville Floodwall's design and construction. The Mississippi River and Tributaries Project formed from this Act led to the redistribution of USACE districts in the Lower Mississippi Valley (LMV) and the creation of the Memphis District with Caruthersville, Missouri, in its district.

The development of the concrete floodwalls was part of the Memphis District Levee Program that was initiated in 1931 to implement over 12,000 linear miles of concrete floodwall in Cairo, Helena, Caruthersville, and Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway.

The 1932 floodwall followed the same footprint as the 1917 version, and in many places, the existing wall was incorporated into the improved 1932 design. At the time of the floodwall's construction, buildings constructed along the floodwall included railroad facilities and depots, livery stables, storage facilities, lumber yards, and other industrial facilities.

Most of the floodgates seen today existed in 1932 for the spur lines and were built to service the shipping of lumber and other industrial goods. The 1932 floodwall was constructed along the St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad.

From 1932 to 1977, the floodwall remained unchanged until a study determined that the wall was unstable. Study findings prompted USACE to build a slurry trench and clay blanket on the riverside of the wall in 1978. Due to deterioration, extensive renovations occurred in 19984 that involved repairing expansion joints, concrete spalls, and cementation waterproof coating over any exposed surfaces of the floodwall.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Louisville District is working in close coordination with the Johnson County Fiscal Court and City of Paintsville officials on the Section 202 Johnson County Flood Risk Management Project, which is intended to reduce flood risk for the city of Paintsville, Kentucky.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Louisville District awarded a $10.8 million contract for construction services for the Johnson County Phase 2 project, which includes construction of the Paintsville east levee and west floodwall. Phase 2 was awarded Nov. 4, 2022, to Aspen Construction Company out of Hackensack, Minnesota.

The Johnson County Fiscal Court, in coordination with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Louisville District, hosted an informational in-person public meeting on Monday, Sept. 18, at 6:30 p.m. (EDT).

During the meeting, USACE provided a construction update of the Paintsville Phase II East/West Floodwall Flood Risk Management project. Louisville District staff was also available to answer any questions about the project following the presentation.

NORTH TOUR: The pre-recorded google earth tour of the project can be seen by clicking here.

SOUTH TOUR: The pre-recorded google earth tour of the project can be seen by clicking here.

What this does: This Supplemental Environmental Assessment (SEA) follows the same general format as the 2017 Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). For the SEA, those sections have been updated (revised) or where new sections have been added (new) are clearly marked. For information that is unchanged, text has been added to denote exactly where details can be found within the 2017 EIS. (August 2023)

What this does: The study identified and screened multiple alternatives to address CSRM and ER problems in the Sabine region, focusing on Orange and Jefferson Counties, and the Brazoria region, focusing on the Freeport area in Brazoria County. The study presents a Recommended Plan.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineer's (USACE) objective of the Port Arthur project is to reduce risk from coastal storm surge and flood damage for residents and businesses within coastal hazard zones in Jefferson County.

This project, at its completion, will help Jefferson County be more resilient to future storm and flood events over the next 50 years. Floodwalls and gate structures are being designed and constructed to endure sea level rise over the next 100 years. While the improved levee system will help further reduce risk of coastal storm surge flooding to its design elevation, no levee or floodwall fully eliminates flood risk.

The Port Arthur Hurricane Flood Protection Project (HFPP) is a federally authorized, USACE constructed, and non-federally (locally) operated and maintained project. The current system provides risk reduction to approximately 65 square miles from hurricane surge tides up to 14 feet. The Port Arthur system provides flood risk reduction to an area with large residential communities and major industrial areas with significant infrastructure investment. The area includes the cities of Port Arthur, Groves, and Port Acres, and adjacent major industrial developments. Port Arthur is a nationally important petroleum processing center and deep water port (Ranked #17 among U.S. ports in 2018 tonnage). It's home to the Motiva refinery, the largest in the country, with a production capacity of 603,000 barrels per day. Other large refineries include Valero, Chevron, and Total. Together the large refineries comprise 15-20% of the land area within the levee boundary.

The Project was authorized by the Flood Control Act of October 23, 1962, Public Law 87-874, substantially in accordance with House Document No. 505, 87th Congress, 2nd Session. Construction of the system occurred over the period of 1966 through 1983 the system was designed to provide protection from a hurricane surge of 14 feet above mean sea level.

The system consists of 27.8 miles of earthen levee embankment, 6.6 miles of floodwalls, 34 drainage or intake structures, 26 closure structures, and constructed wave barrier features. The system also includes thirteen pump stations, eight of which were present prior to the construction of the levee system. The pre-existing levee system was modified and incorporated into the federally authorized levee system.

Jefferson County Drainage District No.7 (DD7) signed on as the local non-federal sponsor by a resolution on January 21, 1963 and reaffirmed by another resolution on December 21, 1964. DD7 remains the local sponsor and is responsible for Operations and Maintenance (O&M). In November 2019, Galveston District and the DD7 signed a project partnership agreement for construction of the Port Arthur Project which included a cost shared 65/35 between the federal government and the non-federal sponsor respectively.

3a8082e126