Federal funding helps keep 50-year-old floodwall whole

Today is the 50th anniversary of the closing of the final gap in the Cape Girardeau floodwall.

Adorned with a mural honoring notable residents of the city and state, the concrete structure serves as a tourist attraction as well as the city's protector from Mississippi River floodwaters.

The wall's gates have been closed many times over the years to protect downtown homes and businesses, most notably during historic floods in 1993 and 2011. Each time the river swells, it increases the likelihood of damage to the wall, but one city engineer said Cape Girardeau's floodwall has withstood each test.

"We've been very fortunate over the years to not have any significant issues," said Stan Polivick, a traffic operations engineer who serves as coordinator for the floodwall.

There's always a potential for damage to occur in future flooding, but he said Cape Girardeau's wall was well built and designed.

Chuck Hebrosk with the Cape Girardeau Public Works department sewer maintenance division, right, watches his co-worker Jeff Golden use a pressure washer to clear mud from the Themis Street floodwall entrance May 20, 2013. The flood gates had been closed since April 19, 2013, as the Mississippi River rose to flood stage. (Laura Simon)

"Even in the '93 flood, which is the record water surface here ... the water level was still 3 feet below the top of the wall," he said. "That's not a common thing to have when you reach record flood stages, that you've still got some protection available. We're very fortunate that for whatever reason back in the '50s when they were putting it together that they did it the way they did. We're reaping big benefits from that."

Many levees in Missouri had to be rebuilt after the 1993 flood, which caused widespread damage and set flooding records across the state.

Taking care of the floodwall and flooding issues can be expensive, but the city has been fortunate to receive some assistance. Cape Girardeau and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers entered into a partnership agreement in 2008 after the city received $9 million in federal funding to renovate the floodwall.

Since that time, "there's been quite a bit of work done," Polivick said. Structural repairs, new control systems for two drainage pump systems and backup generators were among the biggest projects to come from that funding.

This week, President Barack Obama signed into law The Water Resources Reform and Development Act, which includes nearly $18 million for repairs and renovations to Cape Girardeau's flood-control system. Polivick said the money will continue the work the corps and city have done for the past five years.

One of the biggest projects in the city's future involves the Merriweather pump station. At the station, a pipe runs from the inside of the wall to the outside, pumping stormwater to the river, and Polivick said the pipe will have to be repaired or possibly replaced, as there are concerns about the foundation on which it lies.

These types of major projects, combined with the city's dedication to keeping up routine maintenance, will help keep the wall in good condition for many years to come, he said. As melted ice and snow from unpredictable harsh winters and torrential downpours of spring leave the possibility for flooding open every year, it's important the city remains protected.

"As long as there's potential for the river to flood, the floodwall will need to be there," Polivick said.

srinehart@semissourian.com

388-3641

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Cape Girardeau, Mo.