East Bottoms levee repair nears end

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District, recently contracted W.A. Ellis Construction Co. for a $3.3 million levee rehabilitation project along the East Bottoms levee unit in Kansas City, Missouri.

The project is nearly complete and will have placed nearly 100,000 tons of rock along the slopes of the East Bottoms.

The area damaged is located between the Heart of America Bridge and the Kit Bond Bridge along the Berkley Riverfront Park.

During last year’s flood, the riverward rock slope was damaged due to the scour activity of the Missouri River’s high-water levels.

The damages do not cause immediate risk to the levee unit, but repairs are necessary so that further degradation does not occur, said USACE.

The repairs will build up 7-feet of rockfill along the levee toe and a blanket of rock 3-feet thick 50-feet up the bank.

The levee unit provides flood risk management approximately 4,335 acres of industrial and residential property valued at over $5 billion as well as significant transportation corridors and an estimated 16,500 people living and working within the protected area each day.