The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Jacksonville District has awarded its second contract over the last 30 days to replace water control structures at Herbert Hoover Dike (HHD) surrounding Lake Okeechobee.
The Corps awarded the contract on Friday (Sept. 16) for $27.7 million to Harry Pepper & Associates of Jacksonville, Fla. The contract calls for replacement of Culverts IP-1 (S-292) and IP-2 (S-290) along the Indian Prairie Canal in Glades County northwest of the lake. These water control structures provide irrigation and drainage to landowners in the area. Work on this project is expected to be complete in early 2019.
“We have now taken action on 24 of the 32 structures we needed to address as part of rehabilitation,” said Tim Willadsen, Herbert Hoover Dike Rehabilitation Project Manager. “We will continue to award contracts in the coming years to address the remaining eight structures as part of our strategy for completing all rehabilitation work on the dike around 2025.”
In 2011, the Corps began a program to address the 32 federally-owned water control structures as part of its ongoing rehabilitation efforts around the dike. Other risk-reduction measures include installation of a 21.4-mile, partial cutoff wall between Port Mayaca and Belle Glade. The Corps has also completed filling of a quarry near Pahokee, and removal of vegetation on the dike. The total investment since 2001 is more than $870 million.
This summer, the Corps finalized its rehabilitation plan for the dike. It includes installation of an additional 35 miles of cutoff wall, replacement or abandonment of eight water control structures, construction of floodwall at two water control structures, and armoring of an embankment near a bridge on State Route 78. The Corps estimates the remain work will cost about $830 million.
Hebert Hoover Dike is a 143-mile, earthen dam that surrounds Lake Okeechobee, the second largest freshwater lake completely within the United States.
For more information on the Herbert Hoover Dike project, visit the Jacksonville District website at
http://www.saj.usace.army.mil/Missions/CivilWorks/LakeOkeechobee/HerbertHooverDike.aspx
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Release no. 16-077