Water, Water Everywhere

2012 Moving Iowa Forward ConferenceTuesday, April 24, 2012

Sheraton, West Des Moines

Mitchell Dillavou, Engineering Bureau DirectorIowa Department of Transportation

Iowa Departmentof Transportation

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The 2011 Missouri River Flood:Coordinating Response and

Recovery

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Iowa Departmentof Transportation 2011 Missouri River Flood

The Missouri River Basin

IowaNebraska

Wyoming

Montana

North Dakota

South Dakota

Missouri

Colorado

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• Snowpack in Northern Rockies was 212% above normal.

• One year’s worth of rain fell in the Upper Missouri Basin the last two weeks of May.

• Water released from Gavins Point Dam June 25 exceeded twice the previous record and did not decrease until July 31.

• The Missouri River in Sioux City was above flood stage from June 5 to August 26 (82 days).

• Old oxbows / meanders filled with floodwater and groundwater.

• Longest duration flood event in U.S. history.

Overview of Flood Event


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4077

1

-

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

160,000

180,000

47

51

23

55

33

17

27

14

49

20

37

43

12

31

57

15

34

47

40

25

57

20

55

48

33

28

43

40

18

37

17

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2011 Missouri River Flood Timeline - Iowa Transportation Impacts

2011 Release Rate Typical Year Release Rate

Daily

Ave

rage

Rel

ease

from

Gav

ins P

oint

Dam

- Cu

bic F

eet p

er S

econ

d

6

4077

1

-

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

120,000

140,000

160,000

180,000

47

51

23

55

33

17

27

14

49

20

37

43

12

31

57

15

34

47

40

25

57

20

55

48

33

28

43

40

18

37

17

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2011 Missouri River Flood Timeline - Iowa Transportation Impacts

2011 Release Rate Typical Year Release Rate

Daily

Ave

rage

Rel

ease

from

Gav

ins P

oint

Dam

- Cu

bic F

eet p

er S

econ

d

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• I-29, I-680 and other primary routes were impacted.

– Approximately 60 miles of roads were closed

– I-29 closed in two segments covering almost 50 miles

• 12 mitigation sites

– 7 closures

– 5 open sites had mitigation measures in place

– 3 of 12 Western Iowa river crossings were closed from June to November

• Emergency projects to keep sections of I-29 and US 30 open.

Impact upon Iowa’s Primary Roads


8Southbound exit / entrance ramps closed

I-29 Hamilton Blvd Interchange - Sioux City

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Iowa Highway 175 Bridge: 1950’s

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Iowa Highway 175 Bridge: 2009

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Iowa Highway 175 Bridge: Summer 2011

Iowa Highway 175 Bridge

13I-29 / I-680 Interchange looking west to Omaha

I-29 / I-680 north of Omaha-Council Bluffs

14I-29 / I-680 Interchange looking southwest to Omaha

I-29 / I-680 north of Omaha-Council Bluffs

15I-29 Looking Southwest toward Council Bluffs

I-29 north of Omaha-Council Bluffs

Levee Breech in Fremont County

17I-29 looking north at MP 15

I-29 in Southwest Iowa

18Water and debris on roadway at MP 1


19Drainage ditch under mainline at MP 1 - Two months after flooding began


Rail line looking north from Iowa 2 east of I-29

Rail damage in Fremont County

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Looking north from the Missouri border

I-29 at Hamburg

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Communication and Coordination


• Initial coordination between 6 states (South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, Missouri and Kansas)

• Iowa DOT hosted a daily partner conference call / webinar starting in June, became weekly in August and lasted into October.

• Included neighboring states, Iowa state agencies, Federal officials and facilitated key decision-making discussions.

• Heavy use of GIS provided partners a common operating picture. Used Google Earth with custom layers (inundation levels, LIDAR, historical imagery, etc…)

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• Iowa DOT opened a flood call center for the public– Open from June 9 - July 12.

– Anywhere from 2 - 8 operators at any one time, close to 50,000 calls were received from the public.

• A Missouri River Flood Website was hosted by Iowa DOT.– Contains press releases, detour maps and other

information resources.• The Iowa 511 site had approximately 650,000 visits during

peak flooding in June and July.

Communication and Coordination


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• Flooding in 2 of 6 DOT Districts

• Resources from other Districts moved to Western Iowa

• State Disaster Proclamation issued

• State resources used to support local flood fight

• Missions assigned from State Emergency Operations Center

• High degree of coordination between DOT Districts and HQ

Iowa DOT Response: District Level


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Iowa DOT Response: District Level


• Mitigation Measures employed:– Installation of TrapBags on shoulders and medians

– Raised roadway elevations with HMA overlay

– Used pumps and pipe jacking to keep water off roads

• Coordination with local officials

– Setting up local detour routes

– DOT access to local resources, e.g. quarries

– Providing information to affected residents

26TrapBag installation on southbound I-29 bridge

I-29 MP 107 in Monona County

27Installation of TrapBags on south side of US 30

US 30 West of Missouri Valley

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• Implemented Incident Command System (ICS).

• Daily conference calls / webinars with local-state-federal partners, documented with Situation Reports

• Weekly detour coordination conference calls with neighboring states (Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska).

• Participated in multiple US Army Corps conference calls.

• External Communications managed thru Public Information Officer (PIO) in DOT’s Office of Multimedia Services.

• DOT’s 24/7 Operations Center posted information via the Iowa 511, e-mail, Twitter and other subscription services.

Iowa DOT Response: HQ Level


I-29 in Iowa152 Miles

I-29 Detour 150 Extra Miles(Kansas City – Sioux Falls)

Multi-state Global DetourJune 13 – June 17


Iowa DOT Website:Multi-state Global Detour

June 17 – October 8

Nebraska

Kansas

Missouri

Iowa

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• A 75 mile stretch of the Missouri River had no open highway crossings.

• Detours forced Interstate traffic on to local roads.

• The decreased flow of goods and services led to economic displacement in communities along the river.

• One of the three Interstate crossings in Omaha-Council Bluffs was closed on June 9.

• Movement of large amounts of materials (sand and rock) adversely impacted local roads and residents.

Iowa DOT Response: Local Impacts


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• The scope and duration of the flooding required substantial coordination between Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.

• Coordination between the states and Federal agencies (FHWA, Army Corps of Engineers) aided the response.

• Increased efforts were made between the four states to maintain a consistent message and coordinate detours.

• A global detour was in place starting in June to address the closure of I-29 in Western Iowa. Detour map hosted by Iowa DOT.

Iowa DOT Response: Regional Impacts


Receding water reveals damage

I-680 in Western Iowa

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Debris on roadway after water receded


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I-680 Reconstruction Project Timeline

•Pre-Bid Meeting September 14th•Bid Letting September 23rd•PCI & Reilly Construction $19,239,000•Open to Traffic November 2nd

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• First road closed June 4th (I-29 SB Hamilton Blvd exit in Sioux City)

• I-29 in Council Bluffs opened September 23rd

• I-29 in Southern Iowa opened October 8th

• I-680 and IA-175 opened November 2nd

• Last road opened November 11th (IA-333)

Projects Awarded $ 37.8 million

Future Projects 2.6 million

Total $ 40.4 million


Flood Recovery


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