Structural Project Features & Types
Closure structure exercise
Channel Improvements
Stream channels may be re-aligned, widened or moved altogether to reduce risk of flooding in protected area.
Closures
Wall-like structures used to bridge a gap in a levee or floodwall usually at a road or railway crossing. They are usually constructed of aluminum stop logs that are inserted in anticipation of a high water event to form a continuous line of protection with the levee or floodwall.
Drainage Structures
Conduit that allows water to flow from landside to waterside of a levee during non-high water periods, while preventing backflow during high water stages.
Levees
Earthen embankments designed to specific standards and constructed to keep high water from flowing into a protected area.
Floodwalls
Concrete walls with similar function as levees. The walls are constructed to keep high water from flowing into protected areas.
Ice Control Structures
There are several designs for ice control structures. One design consists of a series of concrete pillars anchored into bedrock across the watercourse to prevent ice buildup further downstream in the vicinity of a protected area. Instead, ice builds up at the ice control structure and a diversion channel carries the water to a point further down the watercourse.
Typical levee section
Ponding Areas
Collection ponds constructed on the protected side of a project, the landside of the levee(s). These are often necessary to store interior drainage that cannot flow to the river during high river stages.
Pumping Stations
Pumping Stations are used to pump interior stormwater that has collected behind the landside of a levee or floodwall to the riverside, thereby preventing water from the building up on the landside when drainage structure gates are closed, such as during a high water event. Pumping stations are necessary when ponding capacity is not large enough to store all interior drainage.
Other Structural Project Types
Clearing and Snagging Projects
Projects that include the removal of sediment and/or tree debris from a watercourse to clear a blockage in order to allow adequate flow capacity during a high water event.
Streambank Stabilization & Shoreline Protection Projects
Reinforcement of streambanks and shorelines to prevent erosion or collapse during a high water event.
