FORT WORTH, Texas – Major General William T. Grisoli, Deputy Commanding General for Civil and Emergency Operations, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, received briefings on and visited the Trinity River Corridor/Dallas Floodway Extension project Dec. 8.
"The Corps, the City of Dallas and our partners are committed to applying our engineering expertise towards achieving the common goal of enhancing public safety and implementing the shared vision for the area’s future." said Grisoli while touring the area.
The Trinity River Corridor Project consists of two major flood risk management components. The first includes improvements to the existing Dallas Floodway levee system; and the second is construction of the Dallas Floodway Extension Project to extend that flood protection to portions of Southern Dallas.
As part of the work to improve the levee system, the city of Dallas is working as close partners with the Corps by implementing a number of important remediation measures. The Corps identified these measures to help the city maintain the best levee system possible for the communities and businesses of Dallas. One key example Grisoli toured is where the city removed approximately 190 trees from the Dallas Floodway Federal Levee System. These trees were located where tree growth is not permitted per the Corps levee safety policy.
Grisoli also viewed several areas of the Trinity River Corridor Project that exemplify the ongoing success of the project, including the four newly completed wetland cells that will reduce flood depths by approximately one foot.
The Dallas Floodway Extension project is currently under construction. Some of the future projects include a 3.7 mile long chain of wetlands with levees and recreation features. When completed, the upper chain of wetlands will provide overbank flowage capacity for flood waters along the west side of the Trinity River from the Dallas Floodway to I-45. Ecosystem restoration within the Chain of Wetlands would result in 271 acres of habitat improvement. The levees are projected to be located along Lamar Street, on the east side of the Trinity river for a distance of 2.9 miles, and along the Cadillac Heights neighborhood, on the west side of river for a distance of 2.3 miles. The project will also feature approximately 31 miles of recreational trail; and 1,179 acres of environmental mitigation within the floodplain.
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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.
Release no. 11-010