Platte River sandbar causing flood risk set to be removed this winter

The Papio-Missouri River Natural Resource District Board approved a contract with Valley Corporation Thursday to remove a sandbar in the Platte River.

The sandbar is located near the Highway 75 bridge, just south of Omaha in Sarpy and Cass Counties.

John Winkler, the NRD’s general manager, said the sandbar developed after severe flooding in 2019, permanently changing the river channel.

“What this particular sandbar has done is it's grown, and it's changed the bed dynamics of the river, so it's not going to go anywhere unless it's removed," he said. "And the reason it's a problem is it takes up about two-thirds of the river channel, so the channel has been constricted.”

Winkler said if it’s not removed, the sandbar has the potential to turn moderate rain events into severe flooding that would typically occur once every 100 years, posing a risk to communities like Louisville and Cedar Creek.

The project will come at a total cost of just around $4 million, which is about half of what the NRD anticipated earlier this year.

Winkler said the lower cost is reflective of an economy that has slowed down, resulting in more contractors bidding on projects with competitive prices.

"We're seeing a lot of bids, and we're seeing a lot of contractors that are sharpening their pencils to win work," he said. "I just think it's the general environment right now."

Most of the funding for the project comes from a Nebraska Department of Economic Development-administered federal grant, along with additional money from Sarpy County, Cass County, Sanitation Improvement District 101, the Lower Platte South NRD and the Papio-Missouri River NRD.

Sandbar removal is expected to begin in December and will likely conclude by May of next year.

Traffic along the Highway 75 bridge and the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern railroad bridges will not be impacted, apart from additional local truck traffic.