Camp Ashland to Rebuild After Destructive Floods, $35 Million Project

Camp Ashland is set to be rebuilt after successive waves of destructive floods damaged it, with a project worth $35 Million being granted recently for this purpose. It will be the Camp's centerpiece project under the $62 Million flood reconstruction project for the Camp. 

Resiliency Through Disasters

The Camp experienced several waves of disasters, including two devastating floods within five years. It also housed the Americans who were the first to be quarantined from the COVID-19 pandemic coming from Wuhan. A total of 57 Americans were quarantined here.

Through it all, Camp Ashland has been resilient. According to Pete Ricketts, Governor of Nebraska, the National Guard has been very flexible in keeping Nebraska citizens safe and commended for its actions.

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35-Million-Dollar Restoration

The Guard awarded the camp with a contract to replace 28 buildings inundated by floodwaters in 2015.

These buildings have already been previously rebuilt, but they were again destroyed in 2019's Great Nebraska Flood, where the Platte River overflowed. The base was filled with water coming from Platte's tributary, Salt Creek. Water as high as eight feet damaged the buildings.

Start of Construction

The groundbreaking ceremony was conducted last Friday, and the training camp is looking forward to the start of its much-needed renovation and facelift.

Colonel Shane Martin of the Army National Guard said that the current plan calls for putting down the 28 buildings mentioned above, which are to be replaced entirely. Also, a land area of 71,000 square feet will be dedicated to constructing seven entirely new facilities outfitted with a much-improved configuration.

New Infrastructure

The seven planned buildings to be constructed from scratch will stand on stilts, and they will be towering 12 feet above the ground as a preventive measure for future floods.

According to Col. Martin, this will also be a tremendous opportunity to let the camp soldiers have a bit of genuinely usable and flexible space.

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Levee Renovation

The Army Corps of Engineers of Nebraska is also planning to renovate the final levee, which runs along Platte. It was breached during the 2019 flooding, creating a trench measuring 30 feet.

According to Major Aaron Ellinger, the most extensive renovation to the levee will be its sheet pile. Closing the breach will be a significant milestone in repairing the damage caused by last year's flood to this infrastructure.

Ellinger says they will continue to collaborate with their levee sponsors in repairing the damaged systems, and they assured them that these systems would return to their pre-disaster conditions. He explained that the levee systems are critical to the landowners and the local communities.

A Bright Future

Jeff Fortenberry, Congressman, and Deb Fischer, Senator, lauded the future of the Camp. According to Fortenberry, things became uncertain during the 2019 flooding, when the waters swept the Camp. He says that they are glad that the rebuilding is taking place this fast. 

According to its proponents, the levee project will be completed around April of 2021. Meanwhile, the rebuilding project for Camp Ashland that will repair the damage incurred from the destructive floods is expected to be finalized in two years.

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