East Hannibal, an Illinois farm community located along the Mississippi River, has fought hard this week to prevent rising flood waters from destroying their town. But their efforts could go for naught thanks to the short-sighted decision of a railroad company.
According to MSNBC.com, East Hannibal residents claim that the Norfolk Southern Railroad company reneged on a promise to keep a bridge they control in the upright position during this week’s expected record-high river crest. What problems could the bridge cause?
When the water goes up another four feet to its predicted crest of 31.8 feet late this week, it will slam against the superstructure of the bridge — a series of cantilevered spans that run about 1,000 feet from here to Hannibal on the Missouri side. That will effectively create a dam that will catch logs, propane tanks, wrecked boats and any other debris that comes downriver, which could push the water higher behind the blockage.
The slightest rise in the river’s level could mean the difference between the levee riding it out or failing, said Koeller, 62.
During storms in 1993, the town's levees breached, flooding homes and farms and destroying crops planted in 42,000 acres of some of the nation’s richest farmland. The bridge wasn't raised then either.
A railroad spokesmen said they never made an agreement to raise the bridge. Apparently, after consulting with the Coast Guard and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, company engineers decided the bridge is “more stable in the down position than the up position."
Rep. Phil Hare has been investigating the dispute. Andy Rowe, an aide to the Democratic congressman, confirmed that after the decision was made, “No one [from Norfolk Southern Railroad] thought to get in touch with the levee district.”
(H/T One Man)
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