Flood gates north of Laclede's Landing and under the Poplar Street Bridge (as seen above) have been closed as rising Mississippi River water now cover Lenore K Sullivan on the St. Louis Riverfront.
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City Signs Funding Agreement For Floodwall Repairs
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), April 13, 2008 - The floodwall that protects the City of St. Louis when the Mississippi River floods will get needed repairs under a funding agreement signed by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers and the City.
The City is providing the funds necessary to match federal funds so the repairs can begin. Mayor Francis G. Slay, Comptroller Darlene Green, Aldermanic President Lewis Reed and St. Louis aldermen representing the "river wards" presented Congressman Russ Carnahan, Judy Dungan of Senator Christopher "Kit" Bond's office, and Colonel Lewis Setliff III, St Louis District Commander of the Army Corps of Engineers, with a ceremonial check for $1.059 million for the City's local match for the federal appropriation.
City voters approved in 2006 a bond issue to make the required matching funds available. In December 2007, Congress approved a $1.968 million appropriation for the first portion of the federal funding. The President's FY09 budget includes a recommendation for an additional $2 million for this project. The project is estimated to cost $17 million, of which the City is expected to provide 35 percent.
Although it is known as the "floodwall," the project will repair the entire St. Louis flood protection system, which includes the floodwall, levee and gates. It extends for 10 miles along the riverfront and protected businesses and infrastructure from serious damage during the flood of 1993. It was completed in 1974 with federal funds and is in need of repair and enhancement to protect the City from major Mississippi River floods.
The first stage of the repair work will include replacing and upgrading the floodwall's existing 103 relief wells and adding 70 new relief wells in locations identified by the Corps as necessary for the floodwall's continuing stability. Relief wells make the floodwall stable by relieving pressure created by high waters that could otherwise undermine the floodwall.
The project also includes replacing 20 gates and permanently closing 13 others. When the river's water level is normal, the gates remain open to provide businesses dependent on river transportation access to the river. When the river floods, the gates are closed to prevent injuries and property damage from rising waters. At present, many of the floodwall's gate structures are damaged and difficult to secure. During the flood of 1993, Street Department employees augmented the defective gates with sandbagging operations and other temporary measures.
The Street Department works with the Corps every year to ensure that general maintenance necessary for the floodwall's operation is performed. Major capital repairs and enhancements like replacing and adding relief wells and gates were outside the scope of the City's general maintenance responsibilities.
The floodwall runs from Riverview Boulevard at Hall Street south to Carr Street on Laclede's Landing. It starts again at Poplar Street, south of the Arch, and runs to Potomac Avenue. It ties into natural high ground on both the north and south. There is not a floodwall on the levee in front of the Arch because the land is high.
Gas prices continue to soar in Missouri as seen on sign just south of downtown St. Louis.
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Save Gas, Time With MoDOT's 2008 Construction Map
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com), April 13, 2008 - Want to save gas? Want to save time? Want to save yourself some aggravation when you're stuck in traffic in a highway work zone?
The Missouri Department of Transportation's new 2008 Statewide Construction Map can help with all of that. The full-color, 17-by-22-inch map details nearly 180 major construction sites across the state.
Although not a complete listing of all MoDOT construction projects, the map features descriptions of various projects that may affect traffic across the state this year. The map is useful for over-the-road truck drivers, visitors planning a trip across Missouri highways and Missouri citizens who want to learn more about roadwork on their routes.
"This map is a great way to find out in advance where you may run into traffic backups," said MoDOT Director Pete Rahn. "It may help you avoid work zones, and get to your destination more quickly. If you can't avoid them, the map will let you know to build in extra time and drive carefully."
Up-to-the-minute work zone information can be found on MoDOT's Web site at www.modot.org Copies of the 2008 Statewide Construction Map are available at tourist information centers, rest areas, and at each of the department's 10 district offices.
Soaring Food Costs Seen Linked to Rapidly Expanding Ethanol Sector
NEW ORLEANS, (PRNewswire-USNewswire), April 13, 2008 - Soaring food prices in the United States are caused in part by $25 billion per year in unnecessary costs imposed on food producers by the federally subsidized ethanol industry, which is itself teetering on the brink of contraction due to rampant over-expansion and higher corn prices, an agricultural economist told food writers meeting recently in New Orleans.
"We simply cannot subsidize our way into long term economic growth and job creation," warned Thomas Elam, Ph.D., president of FarmEcon LLC. "The policy favoring ethanol and other biofuels over food uses of grains and other crops acts as a regressive tax on the poor."
The impact on food costs comes from the federal policy of subsidizing the conversion of corn into ethanol, which is then added to gasoline at a concentration of up to 10 percent for use in most vehicles and up to 85 percent for some vehicles. Until the last few years, corn was used mainly to make feed for livestock and poultry, but has increasingly been diverted into ethanol because of hefty federal subsidies. As a result, the price of corn has soared, along with soybeans and other grains and oilseeds also used in animal feed.
"The biofuels policy that is driving higher prices of corn, other grains, and soybeans will cost the U.S. economy more than $100 billion from 2006 to 2009," Elam said. "It is inevitable that these costs will be passed along to consumers."
Elam released a new study of the ethanol situation produced by his firm. He said that the ethanol industry has grown rapidly in response to the federal subsidy program - too rapidly, he suggested. Ethanol distilleries already in operation, plus those slated to come on line in the next year, will need up to 5 billion to 5.5 billion bushels of corn per year by 2009, Elam said.
"We will not have nearly that much corn available for ethanol use," he warned. Crop rotation requirements and higher prices of soybeans will actually reduce the amount of corn available for all purposes in 2008/2009, compared to the current crop year, he said.
Only about 4 billion bushels of corn will be available to the ethanol sector, meaning that it will be able to operate at only 75 percent to 80 percent of its capacity as early as next year, he said. Elam said many ethanol distilleries will have to suspend operations and most will operate at a significant loss.
"Spurred on by subsidies, the ethanol industry has expanded at an unsustainable rate," he said. "It will be very difficult for the industry to make money even at its current size, even given federal subsidies. At the capacity the industry is building, it will not be able to operate its plants at that capacity in the foreseeable future."
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