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The Federal government also stepped forward with $9000 to complete the city’s sanitary sewage disposal plant, which had been under construction when it was damaged by higher water.
In October, the War Department approved the city’s plan for closing a gap in the levee between Walnut and Short streets, alleviating fears of another flood before adequate protection could be provided.
Five government engineers arrived in Lawrenceburg in late fall, working on a survey of the proposed
new levee.
It would protect the city against an 80-foot flood stage, and chances looked good for funding.
But the city wasn’t taking any chances. They were placing large bins filled with sand at all the railroad floodgates, just in case it was needed.
In November of 1937, the Flood Committee issued a progress report which they listed their accomplishments since January.
They credited the WPA, which had from 20 to 50 men on the job at all times.
First and foremost, the washed out section had been completely restored.
A section on lower High Street near the Roller Mill had been widened and a concrete toe wall 400 feet long had been installed. Another section from Mary Street to the end of the “new wheat track” had been repaired, and the section from the Fairgrounds to Hardentown repaired to its former condition.
The scale of the project is illustrated by a man standing in the center of a trench, as well as the intricate framework necessary to build the levee.