Tue, Mar 15, 2011
Precautionary Measure Against Expected Mississippi River
Flooding
With spring flooding of the Mississippi River at St. Paul all
but certain, work crews from the Metropolitan Airports Commission
(MAC) began deploying temporary sections of floodwall at St. Paul
Downtown Airport (KSTP) on Monday. “Prior to developing the
floodwall in 2009, flooding sometimes caused hundreds of thousands
of dollars of damage and expense and closed St. Paul Downtown
Airport for weeks at a time,” said MAC Executive Director
Jeff Hamiel. “The floodwall is designed to protect the
airport against a hundred-year flood, safeguarding infrastructure
and minimizing operational impacts.”
This is the fourth time the floodwall has been deployed at the
airport, having been erected once in 2009 and twice in 2010. The
9,532’ dike includes 4,563’ of permanently installed
sheet pile wall, 3,595’ of temporary, deployable wall and
1,374’ of earthen levee. MAC staff can deploy temporary
sections of the wall in about a week.
Portions of the wall along Bayfield Street and those crossing
the airport’s two shortest runways, 13-31 and 9-27, will be
erected first, leaving the longest, primary runway, 14-32,
unaffected as long as possible. As the water rises, the MAC will
close storm sewer gates to prevent river water from backing up onto
the airport, and pumps will be activated to drain water that does
collect there.
If necessary, MAC also will install the deployable wall crossing
the far southeastern end of 14-32, sealing off the airfield from
the river. Barring unforeseen circumstances, Runway 14-32 will
remain operational with the wall in place, but the landing
threshold will be displaced, shortening the operational portion of
runway pavement from 6,491’ to 5,341’. The two shorter
runways already have been temporarily closed. The Federal Aviation
Administration will remove navigational aids located outside the
floodwall to protect them from water damage. The wall will remain
in place until the danger of flooding has passed.
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