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Close
call for levee
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Workers
patch one leak, with more work left to do
By MEGAN DOYLE
H&N Staff Writer
Lakeshore
Drive resident Billy Cox is telling his neighbors that if someone pounds
on their doors — no matter the time of day — and tells them to get
out immediately, they should obey.
Concern heightened in the neighborhood where leaks in the levee were
discovered in the past week, though progress also was reported. A major
leak on the
“While the problem is not over, we’ve got some good news,” he
said.
“It gives us a little more time to put into effect better repairs on
the other side of the levee, and hope we can qualify for a more
permanent fix from the (U.S. Army) Corps of Engineers’ inspection and
maintenance program,” Thompson said.
Experts
agreed that at least one of the four identified leaks had water coming
out at an increasing rate and that a crack was forming around one of the
holes. Workers put down material that brought the water flow to a
trickle Tuesday; patching efforts will continue at the levee near
“It looked like it was getting ready to cave in,” said Ken Thompson,
a Corps of Engineers engineering technician, after inspecting the levee
Tuesday morning.
It was estimated that if the leaks developed into a serious breach,
damage could reach as much as $1.8 million, flooding about a dozen homes
and causing more havoc if the floodwaters reached
The Corps of Engineers, Oregon Water Resources Department, local
engineers and the Lakeshore Garden Drainage District, which owns and
maintains the levee, have been addressing four spring-like leaks that
were first identified a week ago. Most recently the crack was discovered
around the hole where water was coming from
Over the weekend, using a dye, the approximate locations of the holes on
the water side of the levee were located, and could be temporarily
filled with earthen material.
In addition to stockpiling emergency supplies like sandbags, experts
suggested using bentonite or diatomaceous earth, porous materials that
swell when wet, to temporarily plug the holes.
“It will delay any catastrophic problems you may have,” Barry
Norris, Oregon Water Resources Department engineer.
John Hicks, Bureau of Reclamation engineer said a concrete mixture could
also be useful.
“There are certain things you can do in emergency situations,” he
said.
He said the best plan was to stop the leaking, then figure out the
cause before coming up with a final solution to repair the length of the
levee.
Interested parties will meet at
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Source: http://www.heraldandnews.com/articles/2008/06/04/featured_story/