FORT SMITH : City: Levee fix costly, its necessity doubtful
Posted on Thursday, July 17, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/231557/
FORT SMITH — Driving on Clayton Expressway in Fort Smith’s northwest corner, five miles of levee are readily visible as the ridge follows the Arkansas River in a big curve around the city.
But look on a Federal Emergency Management Agency flood map of the area and the levee is absent.
City engineer Stan Snodgrass said Fort Smith’s levee was not included on a preliminary flood map the agency issued in April because Fort Smith has not certified the levee or taken steps to repair a 600-foot section that washed out in the early 1990 s.
The washed-out section, which Snodgrass said would cost about $ 1. 5 million to repair, sits along a shoreline that is 12 to 15 feet above the river and there is little threat of flooding.
And, if it did flood, damage would be limited to about 1, 000 acres of farm land. Snodgrass said no homes or businesses would be in danger.
Repairing the gap in the levee has been in the city’s street and drainage sales tax plans for years, but funding has been bypassed because of the low risk, he said.
City officials would be more concerned about repairing the levee if it had the same need for protection as Van Buren, he said. Van Buren’s levee protects its industrial park and much of downtown.
“There’s no great urgency to get it done,” Snodgrass said.
Like Van Buren and Crawford County, Fort Smith is under a requirement by FEMA to certify its levee as part of the agency’s flood map modernization program.
Snodgrass said officials have been uncertain about investing in the certification process, which could cost $ 500, 000, because if serious deficiencies turned up, repair costs could soar far higher than the $ 1. 5 million it’s estimated to cost to fix the existing gap.
The chances of finding deficiencies are low because the city routinely maintains the levee, he said.
Snodgrass said he plans to take up the issue with city directors around September, when city staff updates the street and drainage sales tax plan.
Fort Smith’s levee is a combination of two levees. A 1. 8-mile section from downtown Fort Smith to north of P Street was built by the Army Corps of Engineers in 1948, Snodgrass said. The remaining 3. 2 miles of levee, which picks up where the Engineers’ section leaves off, was built by the Kansas City Southern Railroad in 1965, and turned over to the city in 1998. That section of levee, which includes the gap, ends about one mile west of Fort Smith Park.