The 71-year-old levy that protects Portsmouth from floodwaters will get a $40 million upgrade over the next two years.
The Army Corps of Engineers will tackle repairs on the section of levy behind Spartan Stadium that was seriously damaged by flooding back in 2018.
Project Manager Kevin Nelson gave a presentation at the Portsmouth City Manager’s Conference outlining the details. The project will tackle a damaged storm sewer system, a box culvert drain, and erosion damage. “All of that will be replaced and a stronger support to hold up the discharge will be installed. We’re putting a barrier down the middle of the levy. It’s going from the top all the way down to the bedrock.”
During the two-year construction project, Nelson said the levy would be cut down approximately five feet, but that barriers would be installed to compensate for the difference.
Construction on the project is set to begin almost immediately. According to Nelson, contractor Northwind will work nearly around the clock on the project, starting at 7 am in the morning and not stopping until 3 am. The project will disrupt the use of the auxiliary baseball fields at Branch Rickey Park.
Nelson said the levy repairs should last 70 to 100 years. According to Nelson, the Portsmouth levy is one of the tallest levies maintained by the Army Corp of Engineers. “It’s sixty feet. The level of pressure on it is extraordinary.”
Nelson praised Portsmouth for the hard work the city has done maintaining the levy over the year, explaining that’s why the city was eligible to have federal funding pick up the tab for the repairs. “The only thing you all had to provide is the real estate for the project.”
Undeveloped land near Spartan Stadium will serve as a staging area for the project. Mayor Kevin E. Johnson explained the reason the city purchased but never developed land near the stadium was to use it as a staging area for the project. Johnson said that after the project’s completion, the land would be developed to enhance the stadium area.
