The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Little Rock District recently hosted a media day on the status of Faulkner and Perry County Levees.
The 2019 Arkansas River flood was a historic event that impacted hundreds of communities in Arkansas and Oklahoma. 11 levees in the USACE Rehabilitation and Inspection Program were damaged or breached during the flood.
Both the Faulkner County and Perry County levees were damaged during this high-water event.
The Faulkner County levee, also known as the Lollie Levee, sustained a near breach with about a 200-foot-long eroded section creating a reduced level of protection to the leveed area. Permanent repairs are currently underway with construction scheduled to be substantially complete this spring and fully complete this summer.
The entire Perry County levee system was overtopped, and the levee was breached or damaged in at least 19 locations. The construction contract was awarded November 2020 and the contractor is mobilized. Repair work is underway and is expected to be complete by summer 2021.
The Faulkner and Perry County Levees are active in USACE’s Rehabilitation Inspection Program. Under Public Law 84-99, the Army Corps has authority to supplement local efforts in the repair of both Federal and non-Federal flood risk management projects damaged by flood. Repairs are limited to restoration to pre-flood levels of protection.