PROJECT PROGRESSES DESPITE RAIN; WALKER CREEK FLOOD REPAIRS WILL START SOON

Despite the rainy weather, construction work on the Cape LaCroix Creek-Walker Branch flood-control project continues to progress.

As of April 29, the contractor Dumey Excavation and Brenda Kay Construction Inc. of Oran had completed about 70 percent of the work on the first phase of the project, which involves channel improvements along Cape LaCroix Creek from south of Bloomfield Road north to Arena Park.

"The biggest problem we have is when we have heavy rains; it more or less creates a flooding situation where (the contractor) is trying to work," said Ken Eftink, Cape Girardeau's planning services coordinator who is supervising the project for the city.

"The wet weather has slowed him down. Fortunately, he was well ahead of schedule going into this spring," Eftink said Thursday.

Work on the Cape LaCroix Creek phase should be completed later this year, he estimated.

Construction has already been completed on a vertical, concrete-walled channel south of Bloomfield Road, and children have been spotted playing in the channel.

"We are concerned about kids playing down in the concrete channel," said Eftink, pointing out that in the case of a flash flood the children are in danger.

"We've got it fenced along the channel," he said. But he said that youngsters can enter the channel either downstream or upstream. "Kids and creeks are hard to keep apart," he said.

Construction workers are "constantly running people away from the project. It is a problem for them; they get a lot of spectators," he said.

Cape Girardeau police Sgt. Carl Kinnison said officers have been alerted to the situation. But, he said, "There is not a whole lot more that can be done."

The more-than-$35-million flood-control project is a joint effort of the Corps of Engineers and the city of Cape Girardeau.

The entire Cape LaCroix and Walker creeks flood-control project, including construction of a 157-acre water detention basin north of Cape Girardeau, should be completed by July 1996, Eftink said.

In all, there will be one mile of channel improvements on Cape LaCroix and two miles on Walker Branch. In addition, the project involves construction of a six-mile hiking and bicycling trail along the drainage route and another 2.8 miles of trail at the detention reservoir site.

Work on the Cape LaCroix phase began in October 1991, with the widening of parts of the drainage channel and rip-rapping of the banks.

Eftink said the contractor then started construction of a vertical-concrete-walled channel at the south end of the project, south of Bloomfield Road. That work is continuing, with the contractor having progressed north of Bloomfield Road, moving toward the confluence with Walker Creek.

Construction is also proceeding on a sloped concrete channel on the west side of Kingshighway, Eftink said.

The original first-phase contract was for more than $7.15 million, including construction of a new Bloomfield Road bridge. Eftink said that additional construction work associated with that phase will push the cost higher.

In fact, the entire Cape LaCroix and Walker creeks project is expected to cost more than the $35 million originally projected. "Overall, we are looking at a higher project cost for a number of reasons inflation being one of them and also (because of) doing additional work on the project," said Eftink.

Meanwhile, bids for the first segment of the Walker Branch project are slated to be opened June 9. The Walker Branch improvements will be constructed in three segments.

The first segment will involve channel improvements from the confluence of Cape LaCroix and Walker creeks, northward along Walker to just south of Broadway.

Construction on this first segment could begin by August, Eftink said.

The second segment would extend from Broadway to just north of Kingsway, and the third from Kingsway to the Cape Rock and Perryville Road intersection.

The Walker improvements will involve construction of a concrete channel from the confluence with Cape LaCroix to Kingsway. From Kingsway to the Cape Rock and Perryville Road intersection, it will be an earthen channel.

"The city is currently in the process of acquiring right of way along Walker Branch up to Lombardo Drive," said Eftink, noting that Lombardo marks about the halfway point on the third segment.

He explained that the flood-control work has to progress in stages from downstream to upstream. "It's just a natural flow of the construction," he said. If the work commenced on the upstream side, "you could flood somebody downstream," he pointed out.

The first segment of the Walker channel improvements will include replacement of the Good Hope, Independence, Themis, and Bessie Street bridges. In addition, a private bridge to Arby's restaurant will be replaced.

Also, two spans to the Town Plaza area one near the Town Plaza Cinema and the other on the west side of the Amoco station at Kingshighway and William will be replaced with a single bridge.

Eftink said that bridge will be built to align with the main east-west street running through Town Plaza.

"Traffic will be affected with the construction along Walker Branch," he said. "The contractor will have to close one lane on Kingshighway at various times during construction."

At the Independence Street bridge, two "barrels" or box culverts will have to be added to allow a greater volume of water to flow through the channel, he said.

The bridge may be limited to only eastbound traffic for a time because of the construction work, said Eftink. But motorists will apparently not have to deal with that situation for a while; construction work there probably won't commence until August or September of next year, Eftink said.