Fall 2020 Update

The Indianapolis North Flood Damage Reduction Project consists of three primary phases:

3A: From Kessler Boulevard to College Avenue,
3C: From College Avenue to approximately behind McDonald’s, and
3B: From Kessler Boulevard to Butler University.

The 3B phase consists of three segments (primarily for funding purposes):

3B(1): From Kessler Boulevard to the north edge of the Riviera property,
3B(2): From the north edge of the Riviera property to the water supply canal and flood gates, and
3B(3) From the water supply canal and flood gates to Butler University

Section 3B(1) of the project currently is under City control.

The United States Army Corps of Engineers (“Corps”) hopes to pass control of all sections north of Kessler Boulevard (3A, 3B(1), 3C) to the City by the end of the year. A few maintenance items on these segments have recently been completed and a few maintenance items remain. This includes such things as providing topsoil in certain areas, grading and seeding the river side of the floodwall, removing burrowing animals from the river side of the floodwall, and completing maintenance to floods gates along 67th Street in Broad Ripple. Once the Corps turns control of these segments and phases to the City, the City will fund ongoing maintenance and operations using tax revenue collected from the Flood Control Improvement District.

Similar maintenance items remain for the 3B(2) and 3B(3) project phases. Additional items include replacing and securing stolen structures along the floodwall and placing additional rebar steel in the roadway at 52nd street to increase structural integrity there along the foundation of the flood wall crossing. Excavation and work on the project should commence sometime in the near future.

Generally, certification by the Corps and final FEMA accreditation of the project requires:

(1) Demonstration the project will not increase flood elevations along the project area and upstream. This requires computer modelling, the parameters of which must be agreed upon by both the Corps and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”). This work substantially is complete and under review by FEMA.

(2) A statement by the Corps to FEMA that the project meets all standards set forth in the Code of Federal Regulations (“CFR”) required for accreditation.

The City’s project manager indicates the Corps remains committed to completing the project, turning over the project to the City and final project accreditation. The project manager cannot provide an exact timeline but expects the Corps to turn over Phases 3B(2) and 3B(3) of the project to the City somewhere in the neighborhood of late first quarter to early second quarter 2021. Similarly, there is no definitive timeline for project accreditation, but the project manager remains hopeful that accreditation will occur mid to late 2021– though he did note that accreditation is a matter of when, and not if.

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