Salon: Scientists argue US Army Corps of Engineers structures contribute to more flooding

(Please note: This article is primarily about the Mississippi River.) From Salon:

"There is a widespread pattern of flood levels getting higher and flooding becoming more frequent," says Nicholas Pinter, a geologist at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Pinter and colleagues charge that structures built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to aid the shipping industry are contributing to the flooding. They're calling for the National Academy of Sciences to have oversight over Army Corps river projects, and for the federal agency to refrain from building structures that exacerbate the floods. ...

Could submerged, loaded train cars near downtown Cedar Rapids have the same effect as a "wing dike," mentioned in this article?

One such structure is a wing dike, essentially a big rock wall built perpendicular to the bank to concentrate the flow of water on the other side of the channel. Under flooding conditions, the dike can hasten the height of the water. ...

From June 17 Gazette archives:

[National Weather Service Meteorologist Jeff] Zogg said it is difficult to determine the role Cedar Rapids' downtown bridges played in holding back water as the flooding reached and then topped them last week. The bridges likely were "not much of an issue," he said, at a time when flooding was so extreme and widespread.One of the downtown bridges -- the CRANDIC Railway Co. bridge just downriver from the Eighth Avenue Bridge -- collapsed into the river along with a string of hopper cars filled with rock.Zogg said flood water can "jump" backward when a bridge becomes an impediment, but how much that raises water levels behind the bridge and for what distance is not certain. ...

One of the downtown bridges -- the CRANDIC Railway Co. bridge just downriver from the Eighth Avenue Bridge -- collapsed into the river along with a string of hopper cars filled with rock.

Zogg said flood water can "jump" backward when a bridge becomes an impediment, but how much that raises water levels behind the bridge and for what distance is not certain. ...

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