Coralville awards contract for railroad flood protection

The Coralville City Council on Tuesday night voted to award the construction contract for flood protection along the CRANDIC Railroad to Peterson Contractors, Inc. (PCI). The contract is worth more than $8.7 million.

Water went over the tracks of the CRANDIC in the 2008 flood.

The project would include a protection system along the CRANDIC Rail Corridor from the Iowa River Power Company parking lot to Rocky Shore Drive.

Officials received five bids for the flood protection project and PCI's was the cheapest, according to city staff. The total cost of the project, including consultant fees, will end up being around $11.7 million, officials said Tuesday.

"If we didn't do this, we wouldn't be able to provide protection beyond what we did in the past," said Coralville Mayor Jim Fausett.

In August 2009,

the city received nearly $7.2 million in federal funds for the project from the Economic Development Administration. That is on top of $2.5 million Coralville has received for the project through a Community Development Block Grant.