Arkansas Levees along I40 are failing.. details within

We are in a situation of a historic flood cresting from Tulsa all the way to Russelville, Dardenelle, Conway, Mayflower, Little Rock, Pine Bluff. It will be about Sunday for us at Little Rock Crest and it will rise for weeks at the levels considered record ever. Pine Bluff will crest about a week after at levels also considered record.

Levees this morning are beginning to fail along I40 and the Arkansas River. These were built around 1945 to a certain height considered once hard to breach. We are breaching them now. The National Gaurd has quit trying to patch or save the levee at Mayflower (Near Conway east I40) Dardenelle (14 miles from Russellville I40) and the Lake Conway is backing up and overflowing as the Arkansas river flows backwards into overfilling it. Conway is itself warning the storm drains are not working and backing up because the river is going to that city and then flooding it from the storm drains. I 40 is somewhat elevated at Conway but eh...

Here is the website we are using statewide to input new closures in a attempt to fight rumors.

IDrive Arkansas

Little Rock-North Little Rock under I30 the levees are failing on certain routes being overtopped by the river downtown. However the I30 bridge is high enough for now. I430 is not as high and is itself a defense gate so they are doing battle there. I440 bridges have been using maintenance doing battle with the river. What I think is happening is that it may be trying to "Scour" out the bridge from below. Traffic is not very good in Little Rock.

If you are going east on I40, hop off at Conway to highway 64, which runs east to US 67 (Future 57) for about 30 miles on high ground at freeway speeds in sections. Then use 67 south to 40 east via 440 for the time being. I don't yet see anything happening in the Bayous under I440 above I40 galloway (US 70) Lonoke etc. Yet. This will bypass little rock's little traffic problems that are increasing as people try to hop off a I40 exit and find they cannot.

I DO absolutely expect the bayous here to flood as the back flow from the Arkansas comes up. against 67/440/40 etc. It will be a royal mess if it does that. I have no reason not to believe otherwise. Those roads have flooded before to three feet after hurricanes Ike and Gustav for weeks.

We are a stubborn state. In Mayflower, employers have boats to bring workers to work on ground still dry to do work for wages. So... Shrugs. Deer are beginning to gather all over the place along with many wildlife that is able to get out of the water. It may influence I40 and maybe I30 below Little Rock before too long.

Those of you in Hazmat on 30 from Texas will just have to stuff it and pull up your boots and endure the I440 bridges for the time being to get to 40. I hope the one I have in mind does not fail. It will be bad if it did.

Traffic managers around the USA will be telling you poo poo run it. Don't be skeered of a little water here in Arkansas. That is why I am writing this post. Don't you drivers get stupid now. This river is overrunning pretty much everything and the word from Tulsa against crests happening this week into next week for here is just going to be worse. No two ways about it.

Fort Smith, Toad Suck and other major bridges are shut below I40. You aint getting across the river that far west to and from I40. It's that is that. Dardenelle bridges are being shut today due to levee failure there below Rusellville on the river.

The more crossings are shut, the more people will be forced onto Little Rock Bridges and worst the traffic will get. So the bypass 64 is still good.

When Conway fails sometime in June to be valid for reaching the Bypass 64, you will have to use highway 65 from Fayetteville down to below Clinton and then across on small roads to highway 5 then access 64 it's just not going to improve. It is high mountain ground and you will need some of that horsepower.

Conditions from the south and west of Little Rock all the way to Oklahoma/Texas Line is just no getting around that river. Pine Bluff will have to be a path when little rock gets too deep. We have the bridges to withstand the river, but the river is flowing at about two to three times cubic feet per second (Around 275000 at Tulsa) and normal flows are like 100K on a wet day) bridge scouring might be a problem. Meaning digging out the riverbed below the columns and down it goes.

Pine Bluff will Crest about a week from today around June 5. It will be a record ever crest for all of us all the way to the Mississippi for weeks to come. This river runs to Pueblo Colorado and its forecast to rain in NM, OK, CO, KS for the next week. All that water goes straight to Tulsa and then through Fort Smith at the Arkansas Line. The dam at Tulsa has been wide open to make room for the rains to come, but are slowing the flows for now. It still does not change the horrific problems there. They are trying to defend that dam from simply being run over by the raging river. Simply over the top.

There are 18 dams and locks on this river, quite a few here in Arkansas. Some of the Lock and Dam workers have had to be taken away to safe ground by Helicopter already here. Some of the dams are simply shut. Others are working to do what they are built to do. But Mother Nature is going to have her way for approximately 4 weeks or more before it gets better.

That's me planning worse case scenario. But here we are. Welcome to the Arkansas River. Good luck.

 

A Levee failed this hour, waters will reach city of Darndenelle in approximately 15 hours. That will be below Russellville Arkansas some ways.

 

Webber Falls OK

Boats maneuver through flooded street as feet of water sweeps through town

Holla Bend Levee Drone Footage. Nice little chop in the thing.

Yell County Sheriff's Office releases drone footage of levee breech

 

Arkansas Ports in Little Rock that relies on Barge is shut for 3 months pending. Several strong tugs are standby downriver a short distance from the gaggle of barges tied off in holding areas in case any breaks loose.

Little Rock and other areas are using equiptment to line certain roadways with berms of dirt for defenses when the river comes up against housing etc and sand bagging goes on for anyone who needs it at the War Memorial Center. I think they are wanting baggers to fill.

I 40 just east of Conway at the Conway Lakes may overflood one or more lanes in the future because the lake is now lower than the Arkansas which is backing up into it without stopping. They expect at some point to maybe close or detour I40 there.

The river is running as fast as I ever seen it in my lifetime and that includes many rivers in this USA and several flood events around it. It is not a good river and cresting will not happen sunday here, it will happen about 8th June about 3 or 4 feet up depending on weather up stream.

Highways south east of Little Rock are still open towards pine bluff as a means of crossing the river but already they are looking at some of those to have a few problems.

 

I would very much like that. They are getting serious about that closure or detour talk. Right now it's just talk. But we will see. If they did have to close that section there is NO good detour in that area. You would want to run 20 or 44 etc to bypass this part of the state. Even though alot of our traffic is west coast etc.

I'll update when something new comes along and only then for this thread. It may be that someone else has the news and put it up and that's welcome. I can only do so much. My main worry is the bridges in Little Rock. I have been doing some reasearch into how they are built against anti scouring that under cuts bridges in very fast high water with consequences I don't even want to consider. However Redfield Center has people working on the issue 24/7 among many others.