FLOOD PROJECT ADVANCES

Despite last week's wet weather, a $35 million flood-control project is moving ahead, with work continuing on channel improvements along Cape LaCroix Creek north and south of Route K.

Dumey Excavating of Oran and Brenda Kay Construction of Cape Girardeau are contractors on the $7.2 million first phase of the three-phase project.

"They are making pretty good progress," said Ken Eftink, city planning services coordinator who has been involved in planning for the project. "It is good to see this work finally getting under way."

The Army Corps of Engineers is in charge of the project, which is being financed largely with federal funds. A 10-year, quarter-cent sales tax approved by voters in 1988 is funding the city's share of costs for the massive project.

A May 1986 flood caused an estimated $56 million in property damage and sparked efforts to implement the flood-control project, which is now under way.

Construction work is proceeding on widening and riprapping the Cape LaCroix Creek channel from just west of Kingshighway northward to Arena Park, Eftink said. This section is part of the first phase of improvements.

Eftink said brush was first cleared from along the creek. The dirt work commenced on Nov. 21.

"They are working on what we call the riprap section. Basically, that is something they can do in bad weather, and with winter coming on, they (the contractor) thought that would be the best way to start," he said.

The old channel is about 20 to 25 feet wide at the bottom and maybe 60 feet wide at the top, said Eftink.

"The new bottom of the channel will be 40 feet wide and at the top of the slopes approximately 140 feet wide," he pointed out. "Of course, it will vary a little bit with the terrain."

Eftink said: "They are going to straighten it (the channel) as much as possible. Of course, where they have to make bends, they will make smooth bends."

Although the project is still in its early construction stages, Eftink said he believes the improvements have already had an impact in terms of flood control.

The heavy rainstorm on Nov. 19 caused flooding in some parts of the city, but Eftink said the work that already had been done on Cape LaCroix Creek may have prevented even more flooding.

"With the rainstorm we had last week, I felt like the work they have done helped our situation already," said Eftink. "The work that was done by the levee and drainage district a few years back on the lower part of Cape LaCroix Creek made a difference, too."

A couple of businesses along the drainage creeks have been resituated as part of the flood-control project. James Glass and Auto Body moved to new quarters further back from Cape LaCroix Creek last spring; Hill Equipment at 2132 Bessie moved from a flood-prone area along Walker Branch to new quarters on South Kingshighway about a month ago.

"With the rain we had last week, there were 3 or 4 inches of water in that (now vacant) building," said Eftink. "We are going to go ahead and demolish that building."

Improvements to Cape LaCroix Creek from west of Kingshighway to Arena Park will continue this winter and should be completed by spring, he said.

"Some of the work they do they even prefer for the ground to be frozen. It's just when the ground is really wet that they run into problems," he said.

The first phase will include about a mile of channel improvements along Cape LaCroix Creek from south of Bloomfield Road north to Arena Park, construction of recreation trail underpasses, replacement of the Bloomfield Road bridge and sewer line relocations. The contract calls for the first phase to be completed by October 1993.

From the southern end of the project south of Bloomfield Road to the area just west of Kingshighway, a concrete channel will be constructed. From Kingshighway south, the channel will be 75 feet wide, said Eftink.

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 will also involve replacement of eight bridges along Kingshighway and concrete underpasses for the fitness trail.