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How the Rock Island Arsenal does battle during a flood

A look at the HESCO sand barriers along the Rock Island Arsenal and the

A look at the HESCO sand barriers along the Rock Island Arsenal and the Mississippi River, Friday, May 12, 2023, in Rock Island.

Jason Rupp, Rock Island Arsenal engineering technician, and Katie Cary, RIA public works general engineer, talk about the Arsenal's flood defenses, Friday, May 12, 2023, in Rock Island.

A look at Lock and Dam 15, Friday, May 12, 2023, in Rock Island.

A look at a barrier between the Government Bridge and the Mississippi River, Friday, May 12, 2023, in Rock Island.

Jason Rupp, Rock Island Arsenal engineering technician, and Katie Cary, RIA public works general engineer, talk about the Arsenal's flood defenses, Friday, May 12, 2023, in Rock Island.

Katie Cary, Rock Island Arsenal general engineer, talks about the Arsenal's flood defenses, Friday, May 12, 2023, in Rock Island.

A pump is seen near the Rock Island Arsenal Rock Island gate, Friday, May 12, 2023, in Rock Island.

A pump and sandbags sit on the ground at a maintenance area at Lock and Dam 15, Friday, May 12, 2023, in Rock Island.

Cities up and down the Mississippi River have been on high alert for flooding for months.

On the island that is the Rock Island Arsenal, slightly different flood-fighting tactics must be deployed.

From an earthen levee to HESCO barriers to flood gates, engineers on the island use a variety of methods to keep the U.S. government's property dry.

"There's a lot of work that goes into this ... but it's different when we fight it from 360 degrees," said engineering technician Jason Rupp.

Three main areas are targeted with flood-prevention methods to ensure everything remains accessible on Arsenal island. This year, those efforts went off without a hitch.

The Governme nt Bridge

Just beyond the Lock & Dam 15 building is a water channel, where barges wait for the bridge to swing open. Over the channel is a metal catwalk that connects to a concrete platform.

On the platform is a small operations building, staffed by two people 24/7 for all three shifts. Normally, there is no barrier around the platform. But, once flood waters begin to rise, a temporary aluminum barrier goes up to protect the area.

Jason Rupp, Rock Island Arsenal engineering technician, talks about the Arsenal's flood defenses, Friday, May 12, 2023, in Rock Island.

"There's a lot of moving pieces to make the whole plan work as designed," Rupp said.

The platform begins to flood when water reaches 18.6 feet, he said. This year, the water quickly rose past the concrete. When it reached 21 feet, it began to seep into the cracks. Arsenal employees then set up about a dozen pumps to get the water back into the Mississippi River.

Just beyond the building is the turntable for the bridge. Rupp said the spool-like structure balances the entire bridge. There are chains on top and bottom that turn with a gear when the bridge swings open. The swing span alone is 360 feet — the length of a football field.

A look at a barrier between the Government Bridge and the Mississippi River, Friday, May 12, 2023, in Rock Island.

Around the base of the turntable is more temporary aluminum walls that are set up to protect the turntable from rising water, debris and erosion. Once the floodwaters fall to a manageable level, both the HESCO barriers and aluminum walls will come down.

"This is one of the main things we want to protect, because of not only the amount of Arsenal employees, but you have people from all over the Quad-Cities that have to access this (bridge), and it's a very important piece of what we have in the government's disposal," Rupp said.

The Rock Island Gate

The roads that connect the island to Rock Island are fairly unassuming. Just beyond a chain link fence, though, is the Mississippi. This part of the island sits higher than the rest, Rupp said.

Near the gate, a portion of the ground has been dug up to form a square and is lined with concrete. Inside is a pipe that filters the water from the island back into the river. Most municipalities are able to use their own storm sewer systems to get rid of rain water, but the Arsenal has to get creative.

Once the Mississippi rises to the pipe level, existing water on the island cannot escape. Workers then drop a metal shield, called a gate, in front of the pipe, preventing water from getting in.

"As the river comes up, the river wants to come in, so we close gates and we run pumps," Rupp said. "We've lost this entrance before. Early mornings, when people are coming to work and you've got three feet of water out there, it's a big problem, because now you've got the Moline entrance to get into and if you have a lot of traffic from all over the Quad-Cities that's going to try to access there, it creates a big mess."

A look at the Rock Island Arsenal flood defenses, Friday, May 12, 2023, in Rock Island.

The gates exist throughout the island and help protect infrastructure and keep operations as normal as possible for government personnel, he said.

"Safety is a big concern, too," said general engineer Katie Cary.

A couple roads on the island were temporarily closed out of an abundance of caution, she said. One of those was along the walking path near Quarters One.

Quarters One

Historic Quarters One, the 20,000-plus square foot original residence on the island, sits away from the shore and is directly across from the Iowa American Water plant in Davenport. Along the shoreline is a walking path and now, HESCO barriers.

The sand-filled barriers line about 1,200 feet of the shoreline and back up the earthen levee and the rock and dirt that's piled along the shoreline. Other municipalities, including the City of Rock Island, have permanent concrete barriers to protect the city from flooding. On the Arsenal, the earthen levee has always worked and is backed up by the HESCOs.

A look at the HESCO sand barriers along the Rock Island Arsenal and the Mississippi River, Friday, May 12, 2023, in Rock Island.

"We have never had any issues with it this way, and (HESCOs) are something we can put up and take down," Cary said.

The Arsenal used the same tactic in 2019, but at that time, added rainfall complicated matters. This year, snowmelt from the north was the only concern.

"Based on the projections early on this year, we felt this (installing HESCOs) was the right call, because if we get really bad winds out of the north, waves are going to come over and ... we would lose some of our infrastructure and some of the history that goes with the island," Rupp said.

A look at the HESCO sand barriers along the Rock Island Arsenal and the Mississippi River, Friday, May 12, 2023, in Rock Island.

The barriers take three days to put up and come down, based on the flood plan. A team of 15 people met daily during the flood, Rupp said. Now that it is rapidly receding, meetings are every couple of days.

"We daily are looking at river levels and seeing if it's consistently going down or starting to climb," Cary said.