Formal Levee Inspections – USACE, Omaha District

A river running through a grassy area.
A concrete water control structure with two large metal sluice gates partially open, allowing water to flow underneath into a calm channel, surrounded by grass and some overhanging branches.
Two workers in safety vests and helmets stand on a grassy embankment near a walking path, with trees and a green metal bridge in the background on a sunny day.

Client

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Omaha District

Location

Various

Services Provided

  • Levee inspection
  • Levee rehabilitation and repair
  • Geotechnical engineering
  • Geologic engineering
  • Structural engineering
  • Formal inspections
  • Program and project management

Challenges

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers – Omaha District (USACE-NWO) covers about 700,000 square miles of the U.S. Great Plains, spanning from Montana to the Great Lakes.  USACE maintains the National Levee Database inventory of about 7,000 levee systems or 30,000 miles of levees nationwide. Levee systems change over time and require continual inspection and repair to maintain their original functionality.

USACE-NWO implements a formal inspection program to inspect federally authorized levees every five years to monitor the overall condition, identify deficiencies, and confirm maintenance activities.

Solution

RJH has performed formal inspections of about 60 levee systems located in Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.  The levee systems included about 225 miles of levees, 90 miles of flood risk management channels, and floodwalls.  RJH personnel compiled existing system documentation, prepared pre-inspection packets, conducted field inspections to identify and map operational and safety concerns, prepared inspection reports, performed at-brief summary presentations for the USACE-NWO Safety Officer, and recommended remediation actions.   Our team also performed electrical and mechanical engineering inspections of pump stations in the levee systems.