WAITSBURG, Wash. – U. S. Army Corps of Engineers contractors plan to begin work Wednesday, Aug. 15, to rehabilitate flood-damaged areas of the Waitsburg Levee System, in Waitsburg, Washington. Intermittent traffic delays may occur on U.S. Route 12 as trucks and heavy construction vehicles enter and exit the work area near the Touchet River bridge.
The levee was damaged by sustained high flows during the 2017 flood season.
The Corps’ Walla Walla District awarded a contract July 11, 2018, to S.E.A. Construction LLC, a registered competitive, woman-owned, small business in Raymond, Washington, for approximately $37,000 to repair the levee. The rehabilitation project will require about two to three weeks to complete. Access to the work site and room to maneuver equipment and vehicles is limited. For safety, the public is asked to remain at least 50 feet away work areas along the levee. Caution signs will be posted along U.S. Route 12 near the levee access road, to alert drivers and sidewalk pedestrians to watch for construction vehicles traveling between the nearby rock quarry for repair material.
The Corps of Engineers has authority under Public Law 84-99 to supplement local efforts in the repair of both federal (Corps-constructed, locally operated and maintained) and non-federal (constructed by non-federal interests or by the Work Projects Administration) flood risk management projects damaged by flooding events.
Several criteria must be met to satisfy eligibility for flood rehabilitation assistance, including participation in the National Levee Safety Program and complying with maintenance standards. As a non-federally constructed levee system, locally maintained to acceptable standards under the National Levee Safety Program, the Waitsburg Levee is eligible for rehabilitation assistance from the Corps.
The Corps prepared an environmental assessment (EA) and issued a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) for this rehabilitation project to repair the levee to its pre-flood-damage condition. The Corps’ signed FONSI, EA and other associated attachments are available for viewing or downloading on the Walla Walla District’s website www.nww.usace.army.mil/Missions/Environmental-Compliance.
For more information about the Corps’ PL 84-99 programs, visit the District’s Flood Assistance webpage
www.nww.usace.army.mil/Missions/Flood-Assistance
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Release no. 18-088