SPRINGFIELD - In an effort to prevent future flooding and take advantage of low river levels, soil boring will be done on an earthen levee that protects Springfield from the Big Cottonwood River.
Bolton & Menk Inc. engineer Andy Kehren told the Springfield City Council last week that the time is right to do soil borings to determine the status of existing soil in the levee.
A 2-foot layer of clay put on top of the levee last March to prevent flooding was removed, hauled and piled on a vacant lot east of the Springfield Community Center last week by M.R. Paving & Excavating of New Ulm.
The Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) is expected to pay the $19,400 bill for the work.
Last fall, people monitoring the levee reported water seeping through it. Flood plain residents were told to consider evacuating due to levee failure concerns.
A power substation located in the flood plain in the east end of Springfield could cause a large power outage if it is flooded.
The levee, originally designed as a temporary structure, was built in the spring of 1969 by Mathiowetz Construction with design and administrative help from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.