Restoring the Lower Missouri Channel

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District is currently performing multiple tasks to address priority areas of concern and the damages to river structures that have accumulated during the nearly three years of high water.

The district is using all available resources to include a combination of contractors, including one for emergency dredging. Also on the site is the Corps in-house floating plant to repair flood damaged structures and improve channel conditions.

An extended period of high water on the Lower Missouri River, including devastating flooding in 2019, damaged 50-75 percent of the 7,000 river training structures. This damage caused navigation restrictions as the river returned to normal levels in the summer/fall 2020.

“After more than two years of high water levels on the Missouri River, the Kansas City District has identified high-priority areas of restricted navigation. USACE is committed to addressing these restrictions and restoring the channel to its nine-foot depth,” said Maj. Gen. William H. Graham, Jr., Deputy Commanding General for Civil and Emergency Operations, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, after a recent river site visit near Columbia, Mo.

The district has multiple assets working on the river:

• Survey Crew – Conduct Hydro survey on RM480
• Floating plant – Located on RM 105 repairing structure 111.3. Will move upstream to RM133.3
• Contractors
  • W.A. Ellis – Repairing Tadpole RM 186
  • Newt Marine – Repairing structures on RM 26.2
  • Capital Sands – Dredging on RM 133

The Kansas City District continues to work collaboratively with the navigation industry to address areas of concern, said USACE.