Contacts: Patricia Graesser, Corps of Engineers 206-764-3750, Paula Cooper, Whatcom County Flood Control Zone District 360-676-6876

SEATTLE -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Whatcom County, Wash., are conducting repair work over the next few weeks on a section of the Deming levee that was damaged in 2007 flooding.  Contractors will begin moving equipment onsite Sept. 2. 

The flood damaged 3,130 linear feet of the levee slope protection and toe. Workers will place large rock along the toe of the repair and place gravel and riprap along the riverward slope to repair the levee to pre-flood conditions.  Construction is estimated to cost approximately $808,000 and is expected to take about three weeks.

The public also needs to be aware, for their safety, that there will be increased truck traffic along Mount Baker Highway, Deming Road in Deming and at the Nooksack Tribal Center.

Public Law 84-99 enables the Corps to assist state and local authorities in flood fight activities and cost share in the repair of flood protection structures.

The Deming levee is one of more than 50 levees damaged in the region during recent flooding throughout the region.  Levee repairs began last year in western Washington counties, and repairs in these areas will continue through this year and into 2009.