DAVENPORT, Iowa — The city of Davenport is confident that its 2023 flood preparation will protect the riverfront from any catastrophic damage.
Officials are hoping to avoid a repeat of 2019, where the temporary barrier failed.
"As you see, we're ready," Davenport mayor Mike Matson said. "We rehearsed, we pre-position, we practice and set this wall up in two and a half days."
The mayor spoke at an April 24 press conference, addressing questions about the barrier with the help of leaders from the city and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from Rock Island District.
"The pumps are in place. The Corps is with us. The EMA is with us. We're all ready to go," he said.
Teams are using HESCO barriers, as they have in previous years — but leaders say new techniques like double-stacking the barriers, and extra hours from staff are leaving them confident in the preparation work.
"It's about double the amount of staff time — so as opposed to perhaps about a 12 to 14 hour build, we were looking at closer to a 24 to 26 hour build, and then obviously about triple the amount of sand," Davenport public works director Nicole Gleason explained.
Col. Jesse Curry from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers added that teams are ready to deploy more barriers as needed.
"We monitor very closely and maintain 24/7 communication with all those that need to know as the water continues to rise," Col. Curry said.
One business on the riverfront believes in the barrier systems.
"I'm really confident in the way things look and they went together this year," Front Street Brewery co-owner Tim Baldwin said.
His business saw the damage firsthand in 2019: "our restaurant had two feet of water on the first floor, and our lower level, of course, completely flooded, as well as my office building next door," he explained.
However, Baldwin said he's standing by the city's work.
"I've seen it this height before — but I've never seen the effort put in from the beginning to build the wall in two layers thick, two layers high," he said in reference to the HESCO barriers.