CITY FLOOD CONTROL PROJECT TAKES SHAPE IN TOWN PLAZA

Cape Girardeau's massive flood control project continues to take shape along Walker Branch, with a new bridge to the Town Plaza area scheduled to open today.

The new bridge spans Walker Branch from the Town Plaza parking area to Kingshighway.

With completion of the span, two existing bridges to the Town Plaza area -- one at the Amoco station and the other near the Town Plaza Cinema -- will be demolished.

Ken Eftink, development services coordinator for the city of Cape Girardeau, said motorists need to be cautious in crossing the new bridge because of construction work occurring both upstream and down.

A 50-foot wide, concrete, vertical channel is being constructed along Walker Branch from its confluence with Cape LaCroix Creek, south of Good Hope Street, northward to Broadway. Another phase will extend the concrete channel from Broadway to north of Kingsway.

The construction work along Walker Branch is just one phase of the $40 million flood control project, said Eftink.

The entire project's being managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, with the federal government paying the bulk of the construction cost. He estimated the city's share would be about $10 million.

Construction of the concrete channel and replacement of six bridges along Walker, from the confluence with Cape LaCroix Creek northward to Broadway, is being done by Shappert Engineering Co. of Rockford, Ill., at a cost of $6.5 million.

Construction crews began work last fall on what Eftink said is about a 20-month job.

The first phase of channel construction along Walker Branch runs from south of Good Hope to William street. As part of that work, Linda Street will be reconstructed along the east side of the channel.

"I would anticipate it all being done within the next three weeks," said Eftink. "Of course, the big factor is the weather. If we get heavy rain that causes flooding in the creek, that sets them back several days."

Construction of a new Themis Street bridge should be completed within six to eight weeks, said Eftink.

The next phase of channel construction work will extend from William to Independence.

"They will have to move barricades with them and block the eastern most northbound lane of Kingshighway," said Eftink, explaining that the added space is needed to accommodate the construction equipment.

The William to Independence phase could take a year, he said.

Eftink said the entire flood control project could be completed within three years, including construction of the dry detention reservoir slated for a site northwest of Route W.

In 1989 it was estimated the flood control project would cost about $29 million. Eftink said that figure was based on 1987 prices for materials.

Since then, there have been increases in material costs. Also, costs have increased because of engineering changes.

Some design changes were made to allow the channel structure to better withstand earthquakes and to allow for wider lanes on Kingshighway, Eftink said.

"Another thing we ran into was poor soil conditions," he added. "As they excavated for building channel improvements, they found the soils to be poorer than they had considered."

As a result, Eftink said, there were increased excavation costs and more gravel had to be put under the footings along both Cape LaCroix and Walker creeks. Also, there was some additional sewer relocation work that added to the cost.