The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Omaha District, closed three breaches along Missouri River Levee System L-550, located near Missouri River Miles 524 and 525 southeast of Rock Port, Missouri, over the weekend.
These are the third, fourth, and fifth breaches that have been closed under the current contract with Weston Solutions, Inc. of West Chester, PA.
According to USACE, there are now only two remaining outlet breaches, where flood waters from upstream breached through the levee system to return to the Missouri River, on the L-550 System. The team anticipates closing these remaining two breaches by the beginning of April, said USACE.
“It has been amazing to see how everyone has been able to come together and work towards repairing this damaged levee system. We wouldn’t be making the progress we have made without the support of the levee sponsor and the local land owners. This is a testament to just how important restoring these Missouri River Levee Systems are to everyone involved and the priority that will continue to be put on getting these systems fully repaired,” said Rachel Shrader, USACE Project Manager for the L-550 Levee Repair Project.
There are more than 500 miles of levees on the Missouri, Platte and Elkhorn rivers, and tributaries that experienced significant flood damage since March 2019. Due to the magnitude of damage along these levees, repair efforts will take an extended period of time to complete.