Groundbreaking ceremony held for multiple projects on St. Francis River

CLAY COUNTY, Ark. (KAIT) -A groundbreaking ceremony for multiple seepage remediation projects on the St. Francis River took place Monday.

According to a news release, the groundbreaking happened at 4:30 p.m. near the St. Francis River levee off Highway 90 between Rector and Kennett, Mo., near the intersection of Highway 90 and County Road 508.

Partners for the project included the St. Francis Drainage District of Clay and Greene counties, the Mississippi River Commission, and the Memphis District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The first project, called the Below Senath Seepage Remediation Project, will "help reduce risk from the effects of under-seepage by performing drainage ditch work to change the flow of water into a more desirable pattern for the stability of the levee."

Work on that project started in May and is expected to be complete by October.

The second project, named the Big Island Seepage Remediation Project, will help reduce the risk of under-seepage in Greene County.

Crews started building two seepage berms approximately one-half mile in length.

This, combined with drainage ditch work and levee resurfacing along the existing levee crown for almost three miles, started in May.

The project is expected to be finished by May 2022.

The last project, called the Below Piggott Seepage Remediation/Below Highway 90 Channel Cleanout project, is located in both Clay and Greene County.

According to the news release, the project will improve flows along the St. Francis River by removing sedimentation in a five and one-half mile stretch of the river.

Crews will also build ten miles of seepage berm to improve levee stability and reduce risk to the system.

That project will start in September 2020 and won’t be done until July 2023.

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