TULSA WEST TULSA PROJECT FACT SHEET
ABOUT
The Tulsa & West Tulsa (TWT) Levees A & B have been given a rating of a Levee Safety Action Classification (LSAC) 1, indicating a very high risk and the need to take immediate action. The TWT levees protect neighborhoods, parks, industrial areas and downtown Tulsa. The TWT levee reconstruction addresses major performance deficiencies caused by long term degradation of the foundation, construction materials and engineering systems that have exceeded their service lives.
Past performance has been demonstrated over multiple significant flood fights along the Arkansas River at the TWT Levee. Flood events have occurred in 1923, 1959, 1975, 1986, 1993, 1998, 2007 and most recently, 2019 when over 2000 sandbags were needed at the Charles Page Floodway and Sandy Park Areas alone, 15 portable pumps were placed along the 11 mile corridor, large equipment was brought into multiple areas to slow/stop flooding and engineering solutions were being improvised in the field to equalize hydrostatic pressure on both sides of the levee to slow the movement of water through and under the levee.
This project has been approved based on life loss predicted to be as high as 40 residents at night depending on where a breach may occur and significant loss even in daylight hours. In addition to the life loss, the residents in this area earn on average a lower wage with a significant percentage of residents living below the poverty line for the US.
KEY CONSIDERATIONS
Life loss projections for a nighttime event are predicted to be as high as 40 lives lost, while daytime event estimates reach as many as 33 lives at risk depending on event location.
The frequency of flood events and significant effort in flood fighting on the TWT levee system with major floods occurring in 1923, 1959, 1974,1986, 1993, 1998, 2007, and 2019.
The population protected by the levee is considered to be economically at-risk with a median income less than the national median. Approximately 20% of the families in the protected area fall below the national poverty level.
THE PROJECT
The Tulsa-West Tulsa Levee Safety Project is a flood risk management effort between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District and the sponsor, Tulsa County Drainage District 12. The project aims to reduce flood risk for communities along the Arkansas River from Sand Springs to Tulsa.
The project began with a feasibility study appropriated by the Supplemental to the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018.
The Tulsa-West Tulsa Levee System was constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tulsa District, and turned over to Tulsa County Drainage District 12 for operation and maintenance after completion in 1945.
The major features of the project include installation of a filtered berm, modern toe drains to improve drainage, and improved levee access routes to enable construction and maintenance efforts.