DETROIT (FOX 2) - With Great Lakes and river water levels projected to be higher than last year, the city of Detroit is underway on a $2 million dam project to protect the Jefferson-Chalmers neighborhood ravaged by flooding last year.
Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said the city brought back 28 city employees on April 8 to install thousands of feet of Tiger Dam -- flexible, stackable tubes used in place of sandbags to prevent rising water from flooding homes. They will be installed along the river and canal seawall on the city's east side.
“They couldn’t wait until the pandemic was over. If they had, we would have lost a lot of homes in Jefferson-Chalmers to flooding,” he said.
Last year, the area was hit hard by flooding due to a rise in water levels. Duggan said experts are predicting a 4-inch rise in water levels this year -- more than last year.
The Tiger Dam system, which is temporary, features flexible orange tubes, measuring 50-feet long and weighing 6,300 lbs when full. Duggan said while a big orange tube of a dam isn’t aesthetically pleasing, it beats flooded basements.
Detroit Water and Sewerage Department Chief Engineer Palencia Mobley said the dam will also protect the Conner Creek Wet Weather Treatment Facility. She said last year, nearly 7 billion gallons of river and stormwater flowed into the facility.
Along with city workers, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and various subcontractors are working on the dam. The project is expected to be done later this month.
Duggan also said on Monday, 400 employees in the Department of Public Works will also return to working on things like the roads, sewers, and more.