Ditch dirt can be used to increase levee, Mississippi County commissioners say

CHARLESTON, Mo. -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is welcome to pretty much any dirt on a county ditch bank, Mississippi County commissioners agreed during their regular meeting Thursday.

Having rebuilt the northern breach in the frontline levee at Birds Point back up to 51 feet on the Cairo, Ill., river gauge, the corps now needs additional material to build the levee four feet higher to 55 feet, according to Carlin Bennett, presiding commissioner for Mississippi County.

"They're scrambling trying to find places to get dirt," Bennett said.

The dirt removed from a ditch bottom during excavation to clean them out and return the ditch to its design specifications, called spoil, is being offered for the corps' use.

"I'm all for it," Commissioner Robert Jackson said, "as long as the crops are out."

Bennett said having spoil removed from the top of a ditch bank "takes the weight off the bank" and "gives us room to work" on the right-of-way during future excavations of the ditches.

The corps can take "pretty much any spoil we've got," he said.

Pertinent address:

Charleston, MO