Contractor weeks into yearlong project to shore up Cape flood protection

For several weeks, workers from BCI Construction USA Inc. have been repairing joints between sections of Cape Girardeau's floodwall.

The work is part of a yearlong project to shore up the flood protection system that will include replacing a sagging portion of the wall as well as replacing drains and adding more rock to prevent erosion. Other work to be done includes upgrades to the pumps at the Mill Street pumping station, pumping grout to stop seepage under the wall near where it meets the earthen levee north of downtown and extending the outflow culvert from the Merriwether Street pumping station.

As the work continues, the public can expect disruptions to recreational use of the riverfront and to traffic along Water Street, said Jeff Derrick, area engineer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers office in Jackson.

On the Mississippi River side of the floodwall, BCI will have to excavate to the foundation of the floodwall, Derrick said. That will mean cutting into the pavement on the river walk and removing old cobblestones on the embankment.

"I'm afraid we are going to get to the point where it is essentially going to be blocked off to pedestrians on the river side," Derrick said.

Holes will be filled temporarily to allow recreational uses along the riverfront during the week of July 4, Derrick said.

All the work is expected to be completed by January, barring unusually high water. A recent rise that sent the river about 8 feet above flood stage forced workers to the city side of the wall. Rains this week will again cause the river to rise above flood stage but at least one gate of the floodwall will remain open if there is no additional rain.

The project has been divided up into three contracts totaling $7.8 million. The floodwall repairs will cost $3 million. Electrical and mechanical work at the two pumping stations will cost $2.07 million, while putting additional erosion-control rock along 1,500 feet of the embankment will cost $2.75 million.

The sagging panel, or monolith, of the floodwall is near where Independence Street meets Water Street. City leaders hoped to put a third floodgate in the wall at that spot but lack of funds -- the city would have to cover the estimated $200,000 cost -- blocked that idea, said Stan Polivick of the city Public Works Department.

"Whatever the number, it was going to be fairly substantial and it was going to be all out of the city's pocket," Polivick said. "One of the complicating factors, even if the city had come up with the money, is the railroad would have to agree to another crossing of their track. It never came down to brass tacks, but everyone knew that was going to be a difficult thing to accomplish."

Instead, 4-foot-wide adjoining sections of the two monoliths will be removed and replaced with a single panel. The work will have to wait for a low-water period on the river, most likely this summer around July, and the contractor must be prepared to close the hole in case the river rises rapidly, Derrick said.

The expansion and contraction from heat and cold are the most likely causes of the damage to the section that must be replaced, Derrick said. The angled monolith is stressed differently than panels that abut each other cleanly, he said. Additional expansion joints will be cut into the wall to ease the stress on all the panels, Derrick said.

Traffic along Water Street will be disrupted when the Burlington Northern Railroad tracks are moved to allow repairs to the drain that takes water away from the floodwall. A force main sewer along Water Street will also have to be relocated, Derrick said, requiring that a portion of Water Street be excavated.

The floodwall is sturdy, he said. The repairs are a precaution.

"The only thing we are trying to do is improve that risk factor," he said. "There is always risk associated with being behind a levee or floodwall, and we want to decrease the likelihood of catastrophic failure."

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

1 N. Water St., Cape Girardeau, MO