UI to hold flood barrier drill Tuesday

IOWA CITY --  University of Iowa officials will run through a flood barrier deployment drill Tuesday.

While there doesn't appear to be imminent flood risk to Iowa City, UI officials said they want to take precautionary measures to prepare campus in case snow melt  and rainfall push the Iowa River beyond its banks. The June 2008 flood caused record damage on the UI campus.

UI workers will go through a training exercise to deploy HESCO barriers at 1 p.m. Tuesday behind the Studio Arts building.

HESCO barriers are temporary dikes made of a collapsible wire mesh container and heavy duty fabric liner that can be filled with sand by a front-loader. The barriers can be linked together or stacked. During the June 2008  floods, 27,000 feet of HESCO barrier wall were shipped to Iowa and used on the UI campus and around the state.

The university is taking other steps to prepare for possible flooding this spring, including ordering pumps to evacuate water from buildings or from behind flood barriers if needed; arranging the purchase of large quantities of sand if needed; and working with state and local officials to coordinate appropriate responses. The responses will be based on certain trigger events, such as the flow rate of the Iowa River through Iowa City, predicted snowmelt, ground saturation, the elevation of the Coralville Lake Reservoir and the weather forecast.

UI officials are keeping a close eye on Mayflower Residence Hall, the Iowa Advanced Technology Laboratories  and other buildings damaged by the 2008 flood.

"As we learned two years ago, you can never be too prepared," said Dan Heater, director of building and landscape services in UI Facilities Management.