Platte River sandbar removal project planned for fall 2024

A Platte River sandbar south of Omaha that has caused flooding concerns is set to be removed this year, thanks to a $7 million grant.

In 2019, major flooding altered the Platte River near its junction with Highway 75, creating a large sandbar and restricting the channel size to a third of what it had been previously.

Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District general manager John Winkler said the sandbar makes communities like Louisville and Cedar Creek which are upstream, more susceptible to additional flooding.

“During the winter when we have ice jams and ice flows, once that area was constricted, then we were worried about ice, obviously damming there and then flooding everything behind it," he said. “It was a problem just waiting to happen.”

The Nebraska Department of Economic Development awarded the Papio-Missouri River NRD a $7.15 million grant to remove the sandbar, which will fund around 90% of the project.

The other 10% will be funded through other local governmental entities.

The removal is expected to start in September and Winkler expects the project to be completed by the end of the year.