Dike project deals with Mississippi River problem spot

Final inspection with contractor (L to R): Brenan Story, Luhr Bros. Inc, contractor; Preston Snyder, Memphis District River Engineering team leader; Cole Stonebrook, Memphis District River Engineering technical lead; Steve Southern, Memphis district construction control inspector, WAO; Landon Mills, Memphis District River Engineering designer, Chase Arnold,Memphis District, CAO office engineer; Wyatt Story, Luhr Bros. Inc, contractor. [USACE photograph]

The Memphis Engineer District reports that a project dealing with a Mississippi River low water spot has been completed.

The project area, located in Lake County, Tennessee, was identified as a low water problem spot by local partners in the navigation industry. This area has been dredged by the Memphis District’s dredge Hurley in 2020 and 2021, yet the problem spot persisted.

To come up with a long term solution, the Memphis District Below Island 9 Project Delivery Team came together to complete a dike construction project.

A contract was awarded Luhr Bros in September 2021, but work was delayed due to extended high water in the fall of 2021 and spring of 2022. Once work began in March of 2022, the contractor placed over 300,000 tons of stone in a little over 50 days to complete the contract work on the existing dikes.

The Memphis District says the project is highly beneficial in that it assists with maintaining a safe and reliable navigation channel. It also directly supports the Mississippi River Channel Improvement navigation mission.

Finally, it directly supports the commercial navigation industry by allowing towboats to more safely move grain, petroleum, and other goods more freely and less expensively.