MORE PUMPS INSTALLED NEAR GALE, ILL.

EAST CAPE GIRARDEAU, Ill. -- The Illinois Department of Transportation has placed two more pumps along the East Cape Girardeau-Clear Creek levee near Gale as the battle continues to keep the last remaining highway open across the Mississippi River between St. Louis and Cairo.

Department spokesman Bill Stout said the two, 24-inch pumps were mounted along the levee near eight other pumps already in operation. Stout said six 30-inch pumps, two 24-inch pumps, and two pumps that have been combined to create a single 42-inch pump already are working. Together, the pumps have a pumping capacity of 190,000 gallons per minute, Stout said.

The pumps have been operating around the clock since mid-August to prevent more seepwater and surface water from overtopping Illinois Routes 3 and 146 between McClure and the Mississippi River bridge.

The Route 3-146 link is the last highway open across the Mississippi River between St. Louis and Chester. Route 51 between Chester and McBride was closed last month when the river rose to a 10th crest this year. With the river dropping, however, it soon should be open to traffic again.

Over 19,000 tons of rock were used to raise sections of Routes 3 and 146 last week after it was covered by several inches of water from heavy rains that fell two weeks ago.

Stout said if it were not for the pumps along the levee near Gale, both highways would have been lost by now. The department lost a section of Route 3 between Gale and its junction with Route 146 last month because of the rising water.

"As of now, we're holding our own," said Stout. "It hasn't gotten any higher along Route 3 or 146. All we can do now is wait for the river to drop to around 34 feet so the draingates can be reopened.

"Before we started pumping in late August, the seepwater along the levee was rising at about three-quarters of an inch per day. We've been able to control the seepwater with the pumps, but that 5-inch rain that fell a of couple weeks ago really hurt us."

Stout said some fears were expressed by residents when the two 24-inch pumps that had been mounted on the Clear Creek levee north of the Grapevine Trail Road were removed and taken to the levee near Gale.

"The reason we moved them is that in about a week or so the drains under the levee north of the Grapevine Trail Road can be reopened as the water level in Clear Creek drops," said Stout. "We're going to need the pumps along the levee at Gale for some time."

Stout said it's costing the department $250,000 per month to operate the pumps. But, he said, the economic losses that would occur if Routes 3 and 146 were closed outweigh the cost.

"What we'd like to see right now is more sunny days and no rain. If it would stop raining, we could really make a dent in lowering the water level along the highways," said Stout.