Tag: Wednesday

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City of Muscatine Press Releases

Public Works trains staff, “exercises” flood gate #1 Wednesday

MUSCATINE, Iowa – The Public Works Street Department spent Wednesday morning training staff and exercising Mississippi Drive Structure #1. The flood gate is located adjacent to the seawall at the eastern end of Mississippi Drive.

 

Tyson Wedekind, Roadway Maintenance Supervisor, stated that just four of the current staff had participated in a previous installation of the floodgate so the training was needed to get all staff up to speed on the deployment procedures for the gate.

 

Exercising the flood gate involves the installation of each piece of the structure, physical inspection of each piece and accomplishing repairs as needed, and dismantling and proper storage of each piece of the structure. Training was supervised by staff members who had participated in a previous installation.

 

Annual drills (exercises) are conducted to retain familiarity with the mechanics and manpower requirements of installing closure structures in years when the actual need to close does not occur. Sporadic intervals of personnel turnover make drills extremely necessary. Conduct gate closure drills on Mississippi Drive Structure #1 and on East 2nd Street Structure #2. The structure on East 2 nd Street was cleaned and exercised on March 15.

 

Flood gates were removed from 5th Street in 2006 when the bridge was elevated, therefore, no action is required at 5th Street. Two other flood gates cross CP Rail tracks including one across from the bluff on Mississippi Drive, and the other just south of Washington Street on the spur towards HeinzKraft.

 

The Mississippi River is currently at 14.33 feet and is expected to rise to 15.3 feet by next Tuesday. The current forecast is for the Mississippi to reach minor (16 feet) to moderate (18 feet) flood stage by the first week of May. A level of 18 feet would affect most of the parking area inside Riverside Park.

 

Watch a video of the procedure at https://youtu.be/lAtsmIy7IcI.

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To comment, provide a suggestion, or notify the city of an issue please visit MUSCATINE CONNECT, powered by SeeClickFix, or download the app from the Apple App store or Google Play. For more information visit CITIZEN REQUEST. Citizens also have the option, if they have a comment or concern, to email feedback@muscatineiowa.gov or pwrequest@muscatineiowa.gov. 

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Public Works crews keep pushing back snow

MUSCATINE, Iowa – Snow plows were back on the streets early Wednesday and received some help from the rising temperatures. Crews worked to pushed back snow to the curb in all areas of Muscatine to allow for the melting snow to filter into the storm inlets.

Public Works officials said that this was a difficult storm to move snow due to the extreme cold and wind that accompanied a total of nearly five inches of snow. However, crews were able to make at least one pass through every street and alley in Muscatine before the temperatures climbed above freezing to aid in the snow removal effort.

Public Works crews will continue to monitor street conditions and will add salt and/or sand as needed due to the temperature fluctuations.

If you have a question, comment, or request, visit Muscatine Connect, or download the app from the AppStore or GooglePlay. 

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Firefighters conduct training in vacant home

MUSCATINE, Iowa – The Muscatine Fire Department continued their training regimen Wednesday morning conducted a training exercise in a vacant home on Cedar Street. Various pieces of equipment were brought to the scene for the exercise and staged in the Zion Lutheran Church parking lot.

“We were given permission to conduct training in the house as long as we didn’t tear it up too much,” Battalion Chief Ted Hillard said.

The scenario for today’s exercise was a fire on the second floor of the residential home. However, a “victim” was discovered on the main floor when firefighters entered the home and that “victim” was rescued before firefighters proceeded upstairs to find, contain, and put out the fire.

“We then had another little twist that the firefighters had to deal with,” Hillard said.

One firefighter was “injured” while attacking the fire and that necessitated the implementation of Rapid Intervention Protocol to remove the injured firefighter from the residence.

Firefighters then gathered outside the structure once the exercise was completed to review what had happened and what could be done better.

Real life intervened as the discussion winded down as firefighters were called to a medical emergency.

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