The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to build a new, three-mile long levee near Nebraska City.
The $12.9 million project will re-align levee L-575 along Highway 2. It’ll be built further away from the Missouri River than the existing section of levee. Once it’s built, the existing levee at that location in Fremont County, Iowa, will be torn down. The Corps of Engineers awarded a contract earlier this week for the levee setback project.
Bret Budd, chief of the Omaha District’s systems restoration team, says building a new levee there is a better option than repairing the existing one. He says the levee held up during last summer’s flooding, but is compromised.
Three breaches happened along the L-575 levee system near Percival and Hamburg, Iowa.
The new levee is expected to be complete by the end of this year.
On the web: Corps of Engineers Omaha District