Rand Park Flood Control and Multi-Use Trail Project (Levee 50)
Rand Park
Flood Map
Levee 50 Phase III Groundbreaking (9.0 MB)
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.
Project Phases
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 December of 2009 with some restoration work likely
carrying over to the spring of 2010. 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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