Floodwall facts

CONSTRUCTION: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began construction on Huntington's floodwall in August 1938. It was turned over to the city for operation and maintenance in December 1943. The project cost $7.1 million.

LENGTH: The concrete wall is seven miles long. The earthen levee, which runs from the West End through Westmoreland, is four-and-a-half miles long.

HEIGHT: The floodwall varies between 15 and 20 feet. It reaches three feet higher than the 69.45-foot deluge of 1937.

FEATURES: The floodwall has 53 pumps at 17 pump stations that can suck 1.4 million gallons of water per minute out of the city and release it into the Ohio River. It also has 45 gate openings, though 15 are closed now. The remaining 30 openings would have to be closed manually during a severe flood.

PROTECTION: The floodwall was designed to protect more than 7,000 acres from flooding. The Corps of Engineers estimates it has prevented $230 million in damages.

INSPECTIONS: The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducts an annual walk-through inspection of the floodwall. It received a rating of "minimally acceptable" last year, meaning it has minor deficiencies that will not seriously impair its functionality during the next flood. The Corps is expected to conduct more rigorous inspections every five years beginning in 2011. The five-year inspections will be in addition to the annual inspections.

DID YOU KNOW: Because of U.S. involvement in World War II, construction on all civil works projects except those vital to the war effort were discontinued in 1942. Work on the Huntington floodwall continued because of Inco's top secret work on the Manhattan Project.

As it turns out, the wall did protect Inco in March 1945 -- when the river reached a crest of 59.86 feet -- and several times since as well. But the 1945 date was critical because the plant was just wrapping up its work on the atomic bomb, which President Truman used for the first time five months later to shorten World War II.