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Overview  |  Levee 50 Flood Control Project  |    Riverwalk Project (Proposed Improvements) Railroad Grade Separation (Validation Study)  |  Sidewalk, Curb and Driveway Guidelines

Rand Park Flood Control and Multi-Use Trail Project (Levee 50)

Project Overview

Flooding from the Des Plaines River causes $1,315,500 of total average annual flood damages to 181 structures in the cities of Des Plaines and Park Ridge and in unincorporated Maine Township. This average annual damage figure includes $884,300 average annual structural damages, $298,500 of average annual traffic damages and $132,700 of average annual indirect flood damages. The Rand Park Flood Control and Multi-Use Trail Project eliminates these flood damages and provides additional recreational benefits along the Des Plaines River.

The Rand Park Flood Control and Multi-Use Trail Project is the first of six flood control projects included in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Des Plaines River Project. As a state sponsor for the Corps’ federal project, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources/Office of Water resources (IDNR/OWR) agreed to design and construct the Rand Park Project as part of the Department’s financial obligation to the federal project. The cities of Des Plaines and Park Ridge serve as local sponsors for the project and as such, will ultimately own, operate and maintain the flood control and multi-use trail system constructed.

The project will be designed and constructed in three phases. The attached exhibit illustrates the location of the project and the project components of all three phases. The first phase of the project has already been constructed. It included extending an existing 48-inch culvert under the Union Pacific Railroad to facilitate a clay blanket on the riverward face of the embankment, constructing an outlet headwall and installing a 48-inch Tide Flex gate at the end of the culvert extension.

Phase 2 of the project included: construction of a gated closure structure; pump station and appurtenant works on Prairie-Farmer’s Creek immediately upstream of the Union Pacific Railroad; a clay blanket along the riverward face of the embankment; and environmental mitigation. Construction on Phase 2 began in July of 2003 with substantial completion in June of 2005.

Phase 3 of the project includes: floodwalls; levees; a multi-use trail and appurtenant works; a Miner Street underpass; closure structures at Rand Road and Ballard Road; interior storage basins; and a Golf Road Interceptor Sewer gate at Big Bend Lake.

The multi-use trail and Miner Street underpass components of Phase 3 are part of a federally funded Grand Illinois Trail project. The 12-foot wide trail (10-foot wide trail and two, 1-foot wide shoulders) is to be built on the River side of the floodwall and will close a crucial gap in the roughly 50-mile Des Plaines River Trail and the greater Grand Illinois Trail. The underpass will consist of a 12-foot wide by 10-foot high box culvert running underneath Miner Street to serve as a trail tunnel and to provide additional flow opening during times of high water.

Construction on Phase 3 began in July of 2006 and is expected to be complete by June of 2008. When fully completed, the project will provide flood protection from 100-year frequency flood stages (minimum 1.7 feet freeboard) on the Des Plaines River.

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