AMES, Iowa – July 5, 2011 – The Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) is reporting that installation of the flood barrier wall along portions of the north side of U.S. 30 from the Missouri River crossing (at Blair, Neb.) to Interstate 29 (near Missouri Valley) will begin Wednesday, July 6. The road will close at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. Work will be performed around-the-clock and will take approximately 48 hours.

The Iowa portion of the detour, established for persons traveling from Missouri Valley, Iowa, to Blair, Neb., is: I-29 south to I-680E, take I-680E to I-80W, and then take I-80W to the Iowa/Nebraska state line at Council Bluffs/Omaha. The public will be notified when the roadway is reopened to travel. 

As a reminder, flood mitigation work being performed at this site is intended to address a specific scenario – breaches that occur south or downstream of U.S. 30. This site remains on the Iowa DOT’s list of roadways at “high-risk of closure due to flooding” because of its continued vulnerability to a levee breach north or upstream of U.S. 30. The duration and severity of the flooding is putting tremendous pressure on the levee systems. Placement of the TrapBags® on both sides of the roadway in lower-lying areas does not prevent an inundation of U.S. 30 should a breach occur in the agricultural levee north of the highway. Due to the characteristics of this site, no mitigation strategies were feasible for a northern breach.