A ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the culmination of the decade-long McKinley Flood Control Project was recently celebrated in the city of Alamogordo, New Mexico. This event was for the eighth and last phase of the project which broke ground in May 2019 and was completed earlier this year by the U.S Army Corps of Engineers.
The 24 million Phase 8 of the McKinley Flood Control Project, was part of a bigger $90 million Alamogordo Flood Control Project, which commenced construction in 2011. The goal of this project was to create diversion channels to intercept large volumes of water flowing into the area from the Sacramento Mountains.
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Construction on this last phase of the project covered the development of a sediment basin and some work on the remaining part of the channel’s concrete lining. The previously completed phases included work on the concrete lining of the McKinley Channel and work on eleven concrete box culvert Road crossings.
Benefits of the McKinley Flood Control Project
Now with the McKinley Flood Control Project completed, several structures can now be removed from the majority of areas, which were originally termed Special Flood Hazard Areas by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Furthermore, an estimated 1,200 houses and business places that were initially at high risk of experiencing severe damages during a major flood event, will now be safeguarded.
Pate Construction Inc. worked in partnership with the U.S Army Corps of Engineers to execute the Flood Control Project in Albuquerque, which was spread over the past twenty years due to financial constraints experienced by the city and the U.S Army Corps of Engineers.
Lt. Col Patrick Stevens, the District commander in Albuquerque, at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, expressed his gratitude to the city of Alamogordo and Pate Construction Inc. for their hard work and dedication throughout the duration of the planning, design and construction of the age-long McKinley Flood Control Project. He noted that the project was also achieved through a hefty local partnership as well.
