DAVENPORT, Iowa — The city of Davenport continues flood preparations with the installation of HESCO barriers along River Drive.
"It's been tested and proven through hundreds of miles of deployment in the field," said Flood Defense Group CEO Keith Anderson, who oversaw some of the barrier setup.
The barriers are quick deployment boxes with a laced metal frame, which are packed with compact dirt or sand.
"With this particular product, I lived in Afghanistan for six years, and I mean, I built everything from schools to bunkers, to guard houses to perimeter walls," Anderson said. "Now that I'm back in the States, it's flood defense barriers."
The same construct has been used by the City of Davenport in the past, including the 2019 flood where the barrier failed. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers concluded that it was low friction between the road and the barrier that caused the breach.
Anderson did not comment on the 2019 flood, but is confident in the strength and reliability of the HESCO barriers.
"You've got about roughly a little bit over 1.2 cubic yards of sand per box, and then because they're all joined together, the weight of the fill material and the strength of all of the weld mesh holding it all together — it makes it a really hard structure to move," he said. "It's quite literally bomb proof."
Teams have been carefully installing the barriers, ensuring the dirt is packed tightly enough to prevent failure from it being too damp, and also double-stacking the barriers.
"The second one basically just provides additional mass to prevent it from sliding or moving, in case of overwhelming water pressures," Anderson explained.
Residents and visitors were watching on from the riverside and SkyBridge, noticing how the rising river levels have already caused flooding in LeClaire Park.
"We came to walk across the bridge, and we turned around and returned coming to the parking lot and saw the water," visitor Frank Creighton said.
"The safety to a lot of the homeless people hanging around down here, and then the damage to the surrounding property — that's a concern."
As of April 24, parts of River Drive going from Division and East 3rd Street continue to be closed to traffic where the barriers are being set up.