A $33.3 million design-build contract has been awarded to replace and modify three pump stations in the Argentine Levee Unit, according to an announcement Thursday by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District.
Construction is slated to start in the fall of 2020, with project design to begin in October 2019, according to the Corps of Engineers.
Michels Corp. of Brownville, Wisconsin, will design and construct the stations.
“We are grateful that the Corps of Engineers has committed to upgrading flood protection in Argentine, Armourdale and the West Bottoms, and this contract is a vital step in their upgrade,” Mayor David Alvey said.
Unified Government Commissioner Ann Murguia, whose district includes Argentine, said she was “thrilled with the huge financial investment that the Army Corps of Engineers is making in my district to make my residents safer.”
Improvements will be made to the Turner Pump Station, next to the Turner Memorial Bridge; the Argentine Main Pump Station, 2200 Argentine Blvd.; and the Strong Avenue Pump Station, near the South 18th Street Expressway – Highway 69 bridge; all in Kansas City, Kansas.
The pump stations originally were constructed between 70 and 100 years ago, according to the Corps of Engineers.
This is the first construction contract to be awarded as part of a much larger federal investment in the Kansas Citys Levees Program, according to the corps.
The program includes improvements to 17 miles of existing levees and floodwalls along the Kansas River in Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri.
The project will improve the reliability and reduce the risk of flooding to homes and businesses located behind the levees within the Kansas City metropolitan area, according to a spokesman. Some seepage was reported while there was high water on the levees, but there were no failures, according to a spokesman.
The Corps of Engineers is responsible for the design, construction and delivery of the Kansas Citys Levees Program through a bi-state partnership with Kaw Valley Drainage District, the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, and the city of Kansas City, Missouri.
In June, Rep. Sharice Davids announced that she had secured an additional $10 million for levee projects in the Kansas City area.
The UG Commission passed a resolution Aug. 15 to improve the levee systems.
