U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and City of Dallas resume Dallas Floodway System plans under accelerated "Risk Assessment" process

Published Oct. 3, 2011

FORT WORTH, Texas – On October 3 the Dallas City Council's Trinity River Corridor Project Committee was briefed on plans by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the City of Dallas to resume the City's 100-year plan and to integrate the Corps' new Risk Assessment process into the ongoing concurrent study of the Dallas Floodway system for flood events up to the 800-year level and beyond.

"We have been working continuously with the City to develop cost-effective solutions and get its 100-year plan going in the most timely fashion," said Col. Richard J. Muraski, Jr., commander, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Fort Worth District. "We are pleased that this project that is so important for the citizens who live behind the levees is ready to move forward."

On July 29 the Corps of Engineers recommended the City "pause" its 100-year flood plan to consider the opportunity to incorporate the Corps' Risk Assessment process into the 100-year plan. During this two-month pause, however, the City and the Corps have collaborated to identify safe and cost-effective construction methods to complete the 100-year fixes at an anticipated cost savings of approximately $30 million to $50 million. Due to this revised cost-effective solution, waiting on the Risk Assessment process for the 100-year plan was not necessary.

"This is a complex project with many interlocking parts," Muraski said. "With our partners at the City of Dallas we have now put this project back on track."

The USACE Headquarters decision to accelerate use of the new Risk Assessment process demonstrates that the Corps of Engineers considers the Dallas Floodway a top national priority that warrants use of this successful process to lower flood risk as low as reasonably practicable within cost constraints. The Risk Assessment process has already proven its effectiveness in enhancing public safety and reducing costs on federal dam projects. As a result, USACE is extending the benefits of the process to its Levee Safety Program. Early advancement of the process for the Dallas Floodway is expected to avoid delays later when Risk Assessment is deemed mandatory for all federal levee projects.

The Corps of Engineers regularly partners with local sponsors in delivering projects to reduce the risk from flooding, and to provide ecosystem restoration and recreation opportunities. It is working on the Trinity River Corridor Project in partnership with the City of Dallas.

"The Corps is committed to providing public safety and we understand there are cost constraints," Muraski said.

"The Corps is a learning organization and we have learned a lot in recent years. Dallas is now benefitting from all the improvements we have made in our approaches to levee safety."

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About the Fort Worth District: The Fort Worth District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was established in 1950. The District is responsible for water resources development in two-thirds of Texas, and design and construction at military installations in Texas and parts of Louisiana and New Mexico. Visit the Fort Worth District Web site at: www.swf.usace.army.mil and SWF Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Fort-Worth-District-US-Army-Corps-of-Engineers/188083711219308


Contact
Jim Frisinger
817-901-9644

Release no. 12-001