BOIS BRULE, MO — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), St. Louis District, leadership held a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the closeout of the Bois Brule Levee Deficiency Correction Project, which provides resilient infrastructure for flood risk reduction within the 26,000 acres of agricultural lands, commercial businesses, and homes in the area protected by the levee.
Ongoing efforts led by St. Louis District’s interdisciplinary project delivery team with support from the project sponsor, the Bois Brule Levee Drainage and Levee District, have corrected underseepage and inadequate levee grade issues along the Bois Brule levee in Perry County, Missouri, and Randolph County, Illinois, located on the right descending bank of the Upper Mississippi River between river miles 94 and 111.
Members of the Perry County Drainage and Levee Districts Nos. 1, 2, and 3, along with several local, state, and federal officials and community members attended the ceremony outside of the Missouri Chute Pump Station.
“This completed levee system will reduce risk for the Perry and Randolph County communities by restoring the level of protection to the way the system was designed," St. Louis District Commander Col. Andy Pannier said. "We look forward to a continued partnership with the Bois Brule levee district and are proud to hand over this completed project.”
The Bois Brule Levee, initially constructed in 1968 by authority of the 1936 Flood Control Act, was originally known as Perry County Drainage and Levee Districts Nos. 1, 2, and 3, Missouri. The district consisted of approximately 33 miles of earthen embankment; two railroad closures and one highway closure with associated floodwall transitions; seven federal pump stations; nine active gravity drains and associated ditching network; 589 relief wells; more than 60 piezometers; miles of seepage berms; and a 7,000-linear-foot seepage cutoff trench. In 1976, the levee district reorganized to the Bois Brule Levee and Drainage District with the mission to provide protection for agricultural land, commercial businesses, and homes in and around the villages of McBride, Claryville, and Beliqique in Perry County, Missouri.
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This project cost $44.68 million, required 21 contracting actions, and was 100 percent federally funded with the non-federal sponsor providing land and relocation support. The deficiency correction restored 4.2 miles of the levee elevation by raising it 2 feet on each side of the pumping stations thus requiring the levee district to acquire an additional 25 acres for right of way. The project relocated 240 feet of public highway, implemented four advanced pumping stations, installed 297 updated relief wells, 68 piezometers, added 8,485 linear feet of seepage berms, and a 7,000-foot-long clay-filled seepage cutoff trench. The pumping stations located at Missouri Chute, Cinque Hommes, and Jones Cutoff gravity drainage outlets incorporated innovative technologies optimized for energy efficiency and resiliency and lower the yearly operating costs and maintenance at each pump station.
Through construction upgrades, this reconstruction project substantially enhanced the reliability and structural integrity of the Bois Brule Levee to its authorized level of protection for the purpose of reducing flood risk to 26,347 acres of predominately agricultural land, small businesses, major manufacturers, a municipal airport, and several residences within the villages of McBride, Belgique, and Menfro, Missouri.
