Pittsburgh District recognizes 80th anniversary of the St. Patrick's Day Flood

PITTSBURGH, PA, UNITED STATES

03.29.2016

Story by Dan Jones 

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District

As the Headwaters District, Pittsburgh has played a key role in the evolvement of the Corps of Engineers’ flood damage reduction mission. Part of that role is directly related to the region’s history of major floods. Local and state efforts to find solutions to local and regional flooding prompted Congressional debate on a national flood control role. Devastation from the 1936 St. Patrick’s Day Flood finally provided the impetus to pass the Omnibus Flood Control Act of 1936 assigning that mission to the Corps of Engineers.

Since then, the Pittsburgh District has constructed a system of 16 flood control reservoirs and 42 local protection projects that have returned more than $20 in flood damages prevented for every $1 invested. Regional sources estimate that the District’s flood control reservoirs prevented more than $11 billion of damages and 42 of its local flood protection projects prevented more than $2.4 billion of damages since their construction.

These projects are also a prime example of federal and local cooperation. Local sponsors share in the costs of planning, designing, and implementing flood damage reduction projects. The District also conducts an active public involvement program to elicit comments and questions on the problem being studied and alternative solutions being considered.

• Date Taken: 03.29.2016
• Date Posted: 03.29.2016 15:52
• Story ID: 193811
• Location: PITTSBURGH, PA, US