Nashville Mayor Karl Dean has unveiled a $100 million flood protection plan for Music City that includes a 2,100-foot-long flood wall located on the city’s downtown riverfront.
“I look at this downtown flood protection system as an insurance policy,” Dean said in a press statement. “We’re going to pay a premium so we can reduce our risk of catastrophic flooding in the heart of our city.”
The plan calls for 900 feet of permanent wall located inside West Riverfront Park and 1,200 feet of removable flood wall. Ten people would be able to assemble the temporary wall in eight hours.
Structures would be built to close off sewers and storm tunnels to keep the Cumberland River from backing up into the system and flooding downtown. The plan also calls for construction of a stormwater pumping station at Riverfront Park, which would take rainfall held back by the floodwall and closed tunnels and force the water into the Cumberland River to protect downtown from flooding.
It’s expected to take six months to finish designing the project and about three years to construct it. The $100 million would be spent over four years and financed over 20 to 30 years with municipal revenue bonds.
Funding has been approved by Nashville’s Metro Council.
Nashville’s historic 2010 flood killed 10 people in Music City and caused $2 billion worth of damage in Davidson County. The flood damaged some of the city’s most treasured landmarks, including: The Grand Ole Opry, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum and the Schermerhorn Symphony Center.
Topics Flood
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