Upper Brownsville Levee Improvements at UPRR Crossing

Purpose of the Project

The United States Section of the International Boundary and Water Commission (USIBWC)
recently completed rehabilitating approximately 65 miles of our levees within the limits of Donna Pump to Brownsville, which is part of the Lower Rio Grande Flood Control Project (LRGFCP) levee system, located in Hidalgo and Cameron Counties, Texas.

The existing levee system was designed to protect the existing farmlands and commercial and residential buildings against the 100-year flood event; however, due to the UPRR rail line intersecting both levees at a lower elevation than the existing top of levee elevations of the adjacent levees, the existing levee system needs to be rehabilitated in order to meet the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) Levee Accreditation Requirements of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) regulations (44 CFR 65.10). The USIBWC Contractor that is awarded this project shall obtain Right of Entry Agreement from Union Pacific Railroad Co.

General Description of the Work

The work for this project generally consists of rehabilitation of approximately 650 feet of an existing levee located in a small segment of the Lower Rio Grande levee situated in Cameron County, Texas. Major Construction Tasks, include: (1) Preparation of Right of Way. (2) Excavation and Embankment required to raise an existing levee. (3) Excavation and Embankment at existing UPRR/B&M Bridge Co. Crossing at Levee. (4) Improvement of existing top of levee. (5) Construction of 6" aggregate surface course. (6) Topsoil placement, re-seeding and establishment of vegetation for erosion control on the side slopes of the levee. The work will require coordination with UPRR/B&M Bridge Co.

Performance Period

All work shall be completed within two hundred ten (210) calendar days. All flood control levee work, excluding maintenance of seeding, shall be completed within one hundred twenty (120) calendar days. All maintenance of seeding shall be completed within ninety (90) calendar days of completion of all other levee work.