The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District awarded a $64 million construction contract on February 14 to Maloney Odin Joint Venture of Novato, California, for nearly three miles of levee improvements along the Sacramento River East Levee.

This project will kick off major construction in the region to complete approximately $1.5 billion of work to upgrade levees along the American and Sacramento Rivers as well as widening the Sacramento Weir and Bypass. This first contract will improve levees along five segments of the river, the longest of which is a two-mile stretch from Garcia Bend Park to the Freeport Regional Water Facility in the Pocket neighborhood.  

Work could begin as early as March, and a majority of the work should be complete by October when the construction season ends; however, the addition of stability berms and blankets near Miller Park in downtown Sacramento is expected to continue into January 2021. 

The Corps is planning to host an informational meeting in March to discuss what this construction work will look like, including trail access, haul routes, and staging areas. Details for this meeting are still being finalized.

This work is part of the American River Common Features program work, which is a collaborative effort between the Corps of Engineers, California’s Central Valley Flood Protection Board, California Department of Water Resources and the Sacramento Area Flood Control Agency (SAFCA) to modernize Sacramento’s aging flood infrastructure for more than 500,000 people in the greater Sacramento region.

Overall, the authorized project will construct up to 13 miles of cutoff walls, 21 miles of bank protection, five miles of levee stabilization, five miles of levee raises, and approximately double the width of the Sacramento Weir and Bypass by 2024.