New Levee Completed in Iowa

A levee designed to protect an area north of downtown Des Moines, Iowa, from flooding has been completed.

A study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on the Des Moines River was finished after reconstruction designs were completed on the Birdland and Central Place levees. Engineers then decided to raise the height of the levees after a study suggested that major floods like those that hit the city in 1993 and in 2008 are more likely in the future than previously thought.

The Birdland levee was finished last year.

KCCI-TV says officials dedicated the Central Place levee on Wednesday. The $5.5 million project included removing the old levee and rebuilding the earthen embankment. In all, about 2.5 miles of new levees are now in place.