South Levee Certification

The Muncie south levee system was constructed in the 1940s by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as part of the city’s local flood protection project.

Facing potential decertification once evaluated for FEMA’s flood insurance rate map updates, the Muncie Sanitary District took the proactive route to determine if the system would meet the strict criteria for certification. The MSD asked Burke to conduct a feasibility study to assess the system’s current condition and develop solutions to address potential issues. Burke’s study included:

• Plan, report and inspection record research
• Field inspection of the levee system
• Freeboard analysis to determine if the levee crest was sufficient to meet FEMA requirements
• Interior drainage analysis to identify areas of residual flooding on the levee interior
• Current levee system condition evaluation per FEMA criteria
• Impact evaluation of lowering base flood elevations
• Option to tie in to high ground at the upstream end
• Conceptual opinions of probable cost for work needed to obtain accreditation

In addition to typical levee inspections and analysis, Burke developed a conceptual design for a tie-back levee to shorten the overall line of protection and to potentially avoid costly repairs and improvements to portions of the existing levee.

Our team also developed a revised hydraulic model of West Fork White River to evaluate impacts to flood elevations by removing an abandoned railroad bridge, low-head dams, and combinations thereof. The revised model is expected to be used to design improvements to the levee system and to permit the future projects with regulatory agencies.