SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District awarded a $5.7 million contract Sept. 14 to RDA Contracting Inc. of San Rafael to build a seepage cutoff wall in an American River levee near the California State University-Sacramento campus.
Construction on the 900-foot-long stretch of levee, at the west end of Northrop Avenue, is scheduled to start in July 2012, with completion expected in November 2012.
The Corps built more than 20 miles of cutoff walls into American River levees between 2000 and 2002 under the Corps’ and Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency’s American River Common Features project. Cutoff walls strengthen levees and help prevent water from leaking through or under them. Areas where construction was complicated by utilities, bridges or power lines were set aside for later construction. The Corps has improved 14 of the 30 areas so far, and expects to complete construction at three more by the end of 2012.
Some of the construction complications at this site are the close proximity of homes and overhead electricity lines that obstruct movement of large construction equipment.
“Levee systems are only as strong as their weakest link. That’s why closing these gaps is so important,” said project manager John Hoge. “Combined with ongoing improvements to Folsom Dam and completed levee projects downstream of the dam, we are continuing to reduce flood risk for Sacramento.”
RDA Contracting Inc. is a U.S. Small Business Administration 8(a)-designated small business. The Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Business Development Program is designed to help small, disadvantaged businesses compete for federal contracts.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District provides planning, engineering, project management, environmental restoration and construction services to military and civilian customers in parts of eight western states, including California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon and Wyoming.