TULSA — The Tulsa District U.S. Army Corps of Engineers expects construction efforts for the phase I repair of the North Cumberland Levee system to begin around Oct. 1.
The Tulsa District requests that the public avoid the inundation area and construction activites until repairs are complete as submerged power lines, equipment and floating debris could cause injury to persons or property.
The phase I repair project will consist of the construction of a temporary cofferdam on the river side of the 800 foot breach and provide for temporary repairs to a near breach area. The temporary structure will allow crews to dewater flooded areas behind the levee to permit re-opening of state Highway 199. Pumping efforts to dewater the flooded areas are expected to begin in November, weather permitting, and could take up to four months to complete.
Repairs to the Cumberland Levee system will be accomplished in two phases. Phase I construction efforts will focus on a temporary repair. Phase II construction efforts will provide for the remaining permanent repairs required to provide a level of protection equivalent to protection provided before the historic flood event. Design efforts for the phase II repairs are currently underway and are expected to be complete in the spring of 2016, with phase II construction efforts scheduled to begin later that summer, subject to the availability of funds.
Record rainfall in May and June caused the Washita River to overtop and breach the levee on June 21. Floodwaters inundated areas within the old Washita River Basin, an unpopulated area used primarily for oil and natural gas production. A $3.2 million contract for phase I repairs was awarded to Pontchartrain Partners, LLC., of Dallas, Aug. 12.
The Cumberland Levee is part of Lake Texoma and is located approximately 16 miles northwest of Durant, Oklahoma. The levee was authorized by the Flood Control Act of 1938 and was constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 1943 as part of the construction effort for Denison Dam to create Lake Texoma.
Release no. 15-038