Weston has been shoring up levees across the midwest and southwest since 2010. Every year, flood flows, erosion, and natural wildlife in rivers threaten levee foundations, increasing the flood risk to local communities. Weston has performed contracts, valued at over $250M, for technical solutions to levee damage, including constructing inline, piggyback, and setback levee repairs. Repairs have included bathymetric and land surveys; sand and cohesive mechanical and dredging earthwork; heavy river flow closures; concrete drainage structures; relief wells; rip rap, turf reinforcement and concrete mat erosion control. Furthermore, Weston has mobilized personnel for emergency repairs in as quickly as 4 hours, managed multiple levee repairs on levee stretches as long as 42 miles, and executed work in snowy conditions.
In 2018/2019, flooding caused 50+ levee breaches and broad embankment damage to 500+ miles of levee system on the Missouri River as well as catastrophic damage to surrounding homes, businesses, and farms. Weston was contracted to close two of the breaches. At River Marker 542.8, Weston built a sand berm using sand removed from the inland farm fields to close 75% of the 1,100 foot-wide breach. This allowed the fields to be quickly returned to productive use. Weston employed nearly 50 local subcontractors and farmers, relying on their specialized equipment, to rebuild the impacted levees. They benefited from the income as they were unable to farm on their flooded land. Following breach closure, Weston widened the sand berm closure to 500 feet to serve as the foundation for future levee improvements and constructed a temporary sand levee to the same elevation as the original to protect against near-term high-water levels. This technical approach contributed both to levee system resiliency and community sustainability. Weston’s levee rehabilitation work protects residents and infrastructure in local communities against flooding and provides skillful management strategies that accelerates emergency repairs as well as innovative construction methods that lower costs.
