CONTRACT AWARDED ON FLOODING PROJECT

Cape Girardeau is one step closer to embarking on construction of a $42 million flood-control project that's expected to reduce by 70 percent damages from a 100-year flood.

The Army Corps of Engineers Sept. 13 awarded the construction contract for the first phase of the Cape LaCroix Creek-Walker Branch flood control project to Dumey Excavating of Oran and Brenda Kay Construction of Cape Girardeau.

Dumey and Brenda Kay submitted a combined low bid for the project in July and, after a two-month review of the bids, the Corps of Engineers awarded the contract.

Ken Eftink, Cape Girardeau planning coordinator, said the city still is waiting for an official notice from the Corps that the contract was awarded.

"We have received a notice over the phone that they awarded the contract to Dumey Excavating last Friday," Eftink said. "But we still haven't received a formal notice in the form of a letter."

Wayne Miller, the Corps' project manager from St. Louis, confirmed Thursday that the contract had been awarded. He said the contractor now must secure bonding for the project and submit plans to the Corps for review before work can start on the project.

"Dumey will have to get his bonding set up and then will have various plans that he will have to submit for our review, and probably sometime in October, we will issue a notice to proceed," Miller said.

"That will probably take about four weeks. It really depends on him and how soon he gets his bonding set up and the plans drawn."

Eftink said that once the notice to proceed is issued, the city will conduct a ground-breaking ceremony for the long-awaited project.

Bill Busch, resident engineer for the Corps of Engineers in Cape Girardeau, said he's confident Dumey will be able to proceed with the project in October.

"We've gone through and checked all of his unit prices, and we feel that they're within line," Busch said. "We're checking their bonding, and we don't really anticipate any problems with that.

"He's had several contracts in the past and we don't anticipate anything different this time."

Construction on the first phase of the flood-control project is slated to begin about five and a half years after a devastating flood in Cape Girardeau generated grass-roots flood mitigation efforts.

The flood control project will be funded jointly by the city and the Corps of Engineers. Voters in 1988 approved a 10-year, quarter-cent sales tax to fund the city's share of the flood control project.

Congress in August gave final approval to the 1991 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill, which included $10.3 million for the Cape Girardeau flood control work.

Included in the first segment of the project is replacement of the Bloomfield Road bridge, which will be coordinated with construction of an underpass for a hiking and bicycling trail that's included in the Cape LaCroix Creek portion of the project.

The entire flood-control project, which could be completed by 1994, includes three miles of channel modifications on Cape LaCroix Creek and Walker Branch, construction of a 157-acre water-detention basin north of Cape Girardeau, and construction of a four-mile hiking and bicycling trail.

The project also will involve replacement of eight bridges along Kingshighway. Bridges at Bloomfield Road, Route K and Independence will include concrete underpasses for the fitness trail.

Dumey's bid of $7.2 million for the first phase of the project was well below the Corps' estimate of $10 million to $12 million and could save the city more than $500,000.

City officials have said the lower construction costs will allow the city to recoup some of the additional money it had to spend for land acquisition along Cape LaCroix Creek.

The city now is negotiating with property owners along Walker Branch to purchase property for that segment of the project.