Dubbed “The Great Flood of 2019” by The New York Times, the lower Missouri River Basin experienced its third severe flood event over a 30-year period that ravaged communities and infrastructure across the Midwest.
In the aftermath, an in-depth assessment of the navigation structures and channel was conducted by the Kansas City District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to identify structure damage. According to Mitch Roberts, operations project manager for the Missouri River Area Office, the inspection findings throughout lower Missouri River were pretty severe.
“The flood of caused pretty severe degradation to a vast majority of structures in the Missouri River, especially in the Kansas City [District’s] area of responsibility,” he said.
Now nearly six years later, the Kansas City District’s hired labor and floating plant crews out of Napoleon, Missouri, have been doing the heavy lifting to repair existing flow control structures damaged by the flood and construct a new one.
Roberts emphasized that their work prevents excessive water flows into the Cora Island chute at differing river stages, thus further supporting the navigation channel for regional commerce.
“We’re working to ensure navigation on the Missouri River remains as reliable as possible,” he said.
A team effort: Coordinating the recovery while battling the elements
Since the repair process started, things have been far from straightforward on Cora Island as the team faced considerable setbacks — some being out of their control according to river and harbor construction supervisor, Brian McKown.
“We had to clear a lot of brush and lay miles of haul roads before we could even start placing rock. That’s just the reality of working in the river bottoms,” said McKown.
He also described the unpredictable nature of working in river environments and how it sometimes complicates the process of operating the floating plant — an essential piece of equipment used for moving heavy construction materials along the river to access remote areas.
“It really messed with our timelines,” McCown said. “The fluctuating water levels delayed the use of equipment and [slightly] slowed down repair efforts.”
Despite those pressing and sometimes unpredictable challenges, the crew still finished ahead of schedule and below budget.
Roberts undoubtedly agreed, saying the complexity of working with heavy equipment within the Missouri River and floodplain, to clear brush and flood debris for truckers, equipment operators and the floating plant presents known and sometimes unknown obstacles.
As the iconic Ghostbusters jingle from the 1980s cult classic film goes, Roberts knew who district leadership would call on to get the job done.
“The Napoleon crew is asked a lot of times to come in and finish work or do work that [others] can't do, because they maybe don’t have the equipment, the personnel or for another reason” he said. “This is kind of one of those instances.”
Sam Leach, a senior engineering equipment operator with the Missouri River Area Office, led the crew on the ground. He outlined how essential coordination between ground and floating plant crews must be to efficiently move and place approximately 120,000 tons of rip rap.
“A lot of communication [between both crews is necessary]. We’re calling each other constantly,” Leach said. “We have two excellent boat pilots who take care of most of the floating plant work. I just get involved when we have a problem or a delay of any kind.”
The team had to constantly adapt to changing weather conditions while working on the site as well.
“We started when there was quite a bit of snow and winter weather. So, we battled that. Then, it started to rain in the spring constantly,” he said, illustrating the team’s resilience. “Trucks were getting stuck constantly and then it turned to mosquito and tick season. That's another thing you fight the whole time you're [working] in the Missouri River bottom.”
Despite those valid obstacles and coming off the proverbial bench to save the day, Leach has remained optimistic throughout — even though he and other senior team members have now become mentors for the next generation of American builders and engineers.
“Right now, we have a really strong team. We have some young guys we’re teaching who are doing an excellent job. It makes my job easier when I can teach somebody to do it and they're willing to learn,” he said. “It actually gives you a little bit of pride.”
Strengthening the Missouri River system for years ahead
When reflecting on the long-term impact of this project, as someone who grew up on the Missouri River, Sam Leach couldn’t help but think about how it will benefit his progeny one day.
“Maybe my grandkids will use it in the future for more recreation than what people do now. For the most part, we haven’t seen it yet. But I hope it comes from what we’ve been doing here,” he said.
Roberts echoed a similar sentiment since he is someone who delights when peering at the Big Muddy out his office window daily. He noted that he hopes the work the crews are doing will have enduring effects long after he has retired.
“I think we make a difference. Every time I see a barge going up or down river with petroleum, cement, sand and gravel, grain, agriculture commodities or hot oil, we help to make that possible for them,” Roberts said.
Across the board, the work on Cora Island chute control structures demonstrates the Kansas City District’s multifaceted mission and commitment to both improving critical infrastructure and mitigating wildlife habitats.
The ongoing efforts highlights the importance of USACE’s role in infrastructure management along one of the heartland’s most iconic water resources, and partnerships with other federal agencies like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who manages Cora Island mitigation site.
Throughout this construction project the team remained confident that the improvements made by the Cora Island Chute control structure project will have a lasting impact on both the region’s economy and the river’s larger ecosystem that stretches from Montana to the Mississippi River.
“We’re not just building access roads and moving rock — we’re restoring control of flows into a chute, which helps the river navigation channel function more efficiently,” Roberts said.
The collaboration between USACE, local municipalities and local contractors, such as the quarry that supplies rock and the truck drivers who deliver it to the various work areas on Cora Island, underscores the importance of coordination to ensure the future of the Missouri River in the region remains bright.
“Projects like this show how much teamwork matters. You have engineers, operators, biologists and contractors all pulling in the same direction,” Roberts said.