STORM2K

I've begun preliminary design for the replacement of flood pumps in a town near here. This particular town has levees, flood pumping stations -the works. I can't help but be reminded of the importance of this, in light of Katrina. Up until now, these flood protection facilities were in the back of everyone's mind, but now this becomes a high profile project!

I started reading through the manuals for the existing pumping stations. They were built by the USCOE in the 1950's. While the town has secured funding from federal sources, the funding is not from the USCOE. I've learned that flood control projects, once completed, are turned over to the local authorities who assume full responsibility for operation and maintenance.

Flooding is the #1 type of natural disaster around here. Many of the towns and cities in these parts have flood protection.

This project includes 3 pump stations. The largest has three 250-horse power pumps, each capable of pumping 22,000 gallons per minute! The pumps cost about $175,000 each, not including controls, and take about 9 months to build and deliver after the purchase.

It's going to be interesting!

Never know, Ed...you and a team may be called down to NO for a project like this sometime...depending on how many flood pumps were damaged or destroyed by Katrina...

Eric

Good for you Ed. There are a lot of folks around the country rethinking their own vulnerability...another silver lining in Katrina.

In 1979, when I was serving as director of Emergency Services in our home county in IL, we had a horrific winter for snow. Spring found predictions of floods throughout our downtown area, and I was the "legman" who coordinated the efforts to have the Army Corps of Engineers bring in truckload after truckload of rock and soil to shore up our levees. Those are now permanent structures, and in all years since there have been spring thaws every year, but never a flood in the downtown area.

My sons still ask me occasionally after I make a trip back to town, "How are your dikes holding up dad?"

"Better than I am after all these years."