After the catastrophic Flood of 2008, the City of Iowa City took many steps to prevent future flooding. MMS contributed to the effort by designing the Westside Levee, stretching from the CRANDIC railroad to McCollister Boulevard. The levee has since prevented the Iowa River from reaching nearly 200 nearby homes and many businesses.

The levee spans approximately 3,000 feet of the Iowa River’s west bank.Iowa Bridge and Culvert was awarded the contract to build the levee on April 9, 2013. Construction by Iowa Bridge and Culvert began in late summer, 2013 and ended in autumn, 2014.

MMS’ design included a new storm sewer as well as two stormwater pumping stations to improve drainage. The pumping stations are fully automated, with sluice gates to allow for gravity flow during low river stages and pumping during high river stages. They include mechanical bar screens to capture debris and an emergency power generator with automatic power transfer.