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Cloverport Slope Stabilization

CLOVERPORT, KY – Cloverport is a small town on the banks of the Ohio River. For the residents of the Creekview Apartment Complex, the benefits of hazard mitigation are evident every time it rains. Clover Creek, a branch of the Ohio River, flows behind the property. Saturation from flooding in March 1997 created severe stream bank erosion that threatened the lives and homes of the 48 elderly and disabled Creekview residents.

Creekview is a Housing and Urban Development-subsidized and privately-owned property. Its small reserve account was intended for small repairs around the complex, not a major construction or flood control project. The City of Cloverport faced its own financial problems because it was economically devastated by flooding, and was therefore not able to provide funding to Creekview for a substantial hazard mitigation project.

Fortunately, stabilization of the slope behind the Creekview Apartment Complex was an eligible activity under FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP). However, HMGP funds would only cover 75 percent of project costs. Creekview, as the local entity applying for HMGP funds, had to find funding for the remaining amount. The City was able to use a Community Development Block Grant made available through the Kentucky Department of Local Government.

The Creekview mitigation project was comprised of two phases. Phase I involved the testing and inspection of the slope in order to determine how to best proceed with Phase II. Phase I also included driving massive interlocking pilings into the side of the bank to ensure its stabilization. The second phase of the project included the construction of a 220-foot sheet pile wall in order to stabilize the slope, and re-grading the earth below the wall in order to create a flatter and more stable stream bank. Seventy-foot-long tiebacks were driven into the bank wall for more stability, and 600 tons of riprap was added to the channel lining between the new wall and the creek.

In 1998, Phase I of the Slope Stabilization Project began, much to the delight of Creekview residents. Four years after Phase I began, the project was completed and the danger to Creekview and its residents was successfully mitigated.

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