Work done on Mississippi River levee’s drain damaged in 2013
GRAND TOWER, Ill. (AP) — Officials say dry weather last summer allowed repairs to finally be completed on a Mississippi River levee damaged in 2013 in southwestern Illinois when a drainage pipe failed.
A year after the drain failed along the Big Muddy levee in the city of Grand Tower, then-Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation allowing the Jackson County Board to sell up to $1.5 million in bonds to pay for repairs.
Lingering wet ground conditions then delayed those repairs for years.
But The Southern Illinoisan in Carbondale reports that a rare three-month dry spell last summer provided the dry conditions crews needed to finally complete the project.