The City of Dubuque held a project kick-off for the Dubuque Gate and Pump Station Flood Mitigation Project at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, May 27, at the Eagles Watch Audubon Overlook at the 16th St. Detention Basin. The public was invited to attend to learn more about the project.

The project is a phase of the Bee Branch Watershed Flood Mitigation Project. It involves the construction of a new stormwater pumping station on Kerper Blvd. and the decommissioning of the existing pump station system installed as part of the John C. Culver Floodwall/Levee system.

The new facility will include a new flood gate, four new 100,000 gallon per minute pumps (double the capacity of the existing facility), new electrical service, and the installation of back-up generators. The improvements will greatly enhance the system that conveys stormwater from the Bee Branch Watershed to the Mississippi River and protects the watershed from flooding during high river levels. The project also adds additional resiliency options as rainstorms increase in both rainfall amounts and intensity.

Portzen Construction was awarded the contract for the project with a bid of $26.6 million. Construction is expected to be substantially complete in March of 2027 and completed by July of 2027. The City of Dubuque secured $24,650,000 in state and federal grant funding for the project, including a $8.7 FEMA Community Project Granta and a $7.7 million US Economic Development Administration (EDA) Disaster Recovery Grant. The remainder will be funded with stormwater utility fee revenue and a state revolving loan.