With the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s flood risk management feasibility study for the Winslow levee set to be completed within the next six months, recent progress has been made on congressional approval of the project’s pre-construction documents.
“We are helping to make sure that there is no time lost between the feasibility study and the next phase of this project,” which the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says involves executing a preconstruction engineering and design (PED) agreement, according to Brandy Tomhave of The Tomhave Group.
The update is good news for the city, but it isn’t the construction project’s final hurdle; funding for the PED must be obtained through separate negotiations. “The Army Corps may do nothing without congressional authorizations and appropriations in order for the project to move forward,” she explained. A formal PED request to Congress is pending.
According to the Corps of Engineers, the PED phase usually requires about two years to complete and typically overlaps with the end of the feasibility phase.
PED funds are kept separate from feasibility review funds due to different cost sharing requirements for the two studies.
Next, plans and specifications will be drawn up to form the technical portion of the contract documents, which will be used to solicit bids from private contractors. Once approved, these plans will be used to begin construction.
Barring any congressional delays, PED approval is expected by or before 2020, with construction of the levee estimated to begin in 2025.
As previously reported, the total tentative plan will cost roughly $69 million, including rebuilding the Ruby Wash Diversion Levee, channeling and removing salt cedar under bridges, rebuilding the Winslow Levee, building a new levee parallel to Interstate 40, realigning the levee adjacent to Homolovi and removing the realigned levee section.
The PED is forecasted to cost around $7.25 million, including $2.53 million slated to be funded locally. The construction phase will require an estimated $58.95 million in funding, of which 65 percent must be financed by the federal government.
The Tomhave Group says they continue to work closely with Congresswoman Ann Kirkpatrick in maintaining the levee’s rehab as a top congressional priority. “It is a project that is needed for public safety, environmental justice and the economic viability of the biggest city in Navajo County,” Tomhave said.
