Print |
E-mail to a friend
ZZUNUSED
Officials plan trip to removable floodwall
Workers from Flood Control America install a portion of Louisville's removable floodwall behind Slugger Field, home to the city's AAA minor league baseball affliliate of the Cincinnati Reds.
Purchase this photoHUNTINGTON -- City officials are planning a trip to Louisville, Ky., this week to see if a "removable floodwall" like the one there could help open up Harris Riverfront Park to downtown Huntington.
Scheduled to make the trip are Huntington Mayor David Felinton; Bill Toney, executive director of the Huntington Municipal Development Authority; and Charles Holley, the city's director of development and planning.
| Click for map of proposed floodwall |
They will be looking at three removable floodwall sections that Flood Control America LLC built for installation in Louisville from 1998 to 2003.
The city is considering replacing concrete floodwall sections from the 10th to 12th street floodwall openings in front of the park with a removable floodwall. The removable barrier is erected only when waters reach levels that threaten flooding.
The section is along Huntington's Harris Riverfront Park and extends less than a quarter-mile, or 1,320 feet, and is about 16 feet high. The removable sections in Louisville range from 60 to 770 feet long and, depending on the location of the floodwall, vary from 2 to 18 feet in height.
Advocates of a removable floodwall said it will bring more attention to the park and help connect downtown businesses to the riverfront.
Toney said he also plans to meet in late September with staff from Flood Control America. He hopes when the engineers come to Huntington, they can suggest different building options to find the one most suitable for the city.
"I'd like to get them down here to get an idea of what is the easiest and most efficient way to do it," Toney said. "The technology is here, so we should consider if (a removable floodwall) would work here."
George Fryklund, chief executive officer of Flood Control America, said his company could fabricate and provide the city with the materials to cover the sections for less than $2 million. The estimate does not include demolition of the current wall and the concrete work needed for the foundation.
Flood Control America fabricates all the components for the removable floodwall but does not install any components. If the city purchased the floodwall, Fryklund said it would have to find a company to do the additional work. Most construction companies use the original concrete wall's foundation to secure the removable floodwall, he said.
If hired tomorrow, Fryklund said, his company could have the materials ready for a removable floodwall in four months. The process would include preparing engineering drawings, getting them approved by various government entities and fabricating the pieces. The process does not include the concrete work, which Fryklund said could take up to four months.
While each floodwall site is unique, Fryklund said the wall fabrication and installation process is the same.
"Each site, we run the new calculations, but it's the same thing we've done 150 times," Fryklund said.
The section in Huntington, he said, wouldn't be the largest the company has built. The largest removable floodwall was built in St. Paul, Minn., and it was about 3,500 feet along the Mississippi River.
Some in the community have said they are concerned that a wall about 1,320 feet long by 16 feet high would be too difficult to erect in an emergency. Fryklund said once the construction is done, the entire wall could be erected in three days by an eight-man crew. If potential flooding is expected to be minimal, Fryklund said floodwall workers can just put up a portion of floodwall to a certain height rather than the full height.
Though the city is considering constructing a removable floodwall, Felinton said it would be years before one could be installed while the city sorts out how it should be designed and locates the money for such a project.
Felinton said it is his goal to improve the downtown and open up the park to more visitors.
"The riverfront will serve a greater purpose in the years to come," he said. "Increasingly, more people are moving downtown. And when those people come downtown they need a back yard and a peaceful place to take time out of the day and relax."
Flood Control America fabricated a removable floodwall for East Grand Forks, Minn., between 2000 and 2001 following the devastating Red River Flood in 1997. Previously, the town used emergency earth levees that were moved into place when flood waters became dangerously high, said East Grand Forks Mayor Lynn Stauss.
Since the wall was installed, Stauss said, the benefits have been overwhelmingly positive. Stauss said the Army Corps of Engineers funded 90 percent of the project. East Grand Forks built a boardwalk in conjunction with the construction of the floodwall.
The riverfront now has five restaurants and a large upper-level dining hall that is used for private receptions. The riverfront view provided by the removable floodwall has opened up the riverfront to new businesses and to people traveling downtown, he said.
"We now have an amazing view of the river instead of staring at a concrete wall like we're in prison or looking at earth levees that aren't very attractive," Stauss said. "We were able to keep our downtown identity. I recommend this to (any town) that wants to give their downtown restaurants, businesses and people an attractive riverfront to look at."
