Federal Services – Levees

Last week, we showcased several of the environmental services we offer. Today, we’re sharing descriptions, funding information, and requirements surrounding levee work.

Levee Relief Well Design and Rehabilitation
Affinis is currently providing a multi-year program for the Kansas City Downtown Airport to replace or clean existing relief wells in order to provide a fully functional relief well system. In these types of projects, levees that do not have the real estate to provide a thick and wide underseepage berm require relief wells to provide an adequate factor of safety for underseepage pressures.

Levee District Engineer
A Chief Engineer is required by Missouri State Statute 245.100.1 for Levee Districts. We are the Chief Engineer for Riverside Quindaro Bend Levee District and take our responsibilities in this role very seriously. They include:

Per Missouri State Statute 245.100.1: “The chief engineer shall have control of the engineering work in said district. The chief engineer may, by and with the consent of the board of supervisors, consult any eminent engineer or engineers and obtain his or their opinion and advice concerning the reclamation or protection of land in said district. The said engineer or engineers shall make all necessary surveys of the lands within the boundary lines of said district as described by the articles of association, and of all lands adjacent thereto that may or will be improved or reclaimed in part or in whole by any system of levees or bank protection that may be outlined and adopted, and said engineer or engineers shall make a report in writing to the board of supervisors with maps and profiles of said surveys, which report shall contain a plan for leveeing, draining, reclaiming or protecting the lands and property described in the articles of association or adjacent thereto from overflow of or damage by water; provided, that the chief engineer may in his discretion, accept, approve and adopt or amend any plan for leveeing, draining, reclaiming or protecting the lands and property described in the decree of the court incorporating said district, which may have been designed by either a state or federal department, division or agency, which has for its purpose the protection and reclamation of the land and property within the district.”

You can see more about our work at RQBLD here. 

Levee Periodic Inspections
Affinis has performed 54 Levee Periodic Inspections for USACE. Periodic Inspections are comprehensive inspections conducted by a multidisciplinary team, which includes the levee sponsor and is led by a professional engineer. USACE typically conducts this inspection every five years on the federally authorized levees in the USACE Levee Safety Program. Periodic Inspections include three key steps:

• Data collection: During this step, a review of existing data on the operation and maintenance, previous inspections, emergency action plans, and flood fighting records are collected.
• Field inspection: This is similar to the visual inspection for a Routine Inspection, but with additional features. It is a boots-on-the-ground inspection where we look for deficiencies by walking the entire levee system. The field inspection also includes exercising all sluice gates and closure structures to verify operation.
• Final report development: A final report includes the data collected, field inspection findings, an evaluation of any changes in design criteria from the time the levee was constructed, and additional recommendations as warranted, such as areas that need further evaluation.

You can see more about our Levee Inspection experience here.

To learn more about our federal services, contact us at info@affinis.us.