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Lawrenceburg council reviews riverfront project; levee gangway design remains unresolved
Summary
City council and engineering reviewers discussed outstanding permit comments on the Lawrenceburg riverfront project, with the proposed gangway identified as the primary unresolved issue because it attaches to the Army Corps levee and was redesigned to be breakaway rather than meet top-of‑levee loading.
Lawrenceburg City Council members on Wednesday reviewed the status of the riverfront redevelopment and heard from third‑party reviewers that a proposed gangway attached to the city’s levee remains the primary outstanding issue.
The project is under review through the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Section 408 permitting process as well as standard FEMA accreditation; reviewers said the Corps expects any work that attaches to the federal levee to be evaluated against the levee’s original top‑of‑levee loading, a standard higher than the FEMA 100‑year design.
John Mundell, the third‑party reviewer retained to evaluate the levee impacts, told the council that reviewers issued 38 comments on submitted plans, with 25 resolved, eight described as “straightforward” and five remaining that directly relate to the gangway. “And the gangway is the big one,” Mundell said. He said the gangway design was changed in January and that reviewers have not received complete responses since February.
The reviewers and the Army Corps have asked for a narrative explaining why the gangway cannot be designed to meet top‑of‑levee loading and how a design‑to‑fail, breakaway approach would avoid gouging or otherwise damaging the levee when the structure collapses onto it. “When it does fail, there’s gonna be a financial matter of who’s gonna fix the levee when this fails,” engineer Luke Johnstone said, summarizing the reviewers’ request for additional risk analysis.
Reviewers described the permitting sequence and timeline in detail: 30% plans submitted in December 2023, a Corps 30% review in April 2024, reviewer comments in May 2024, receipt of 100% plans in September 2024 and follow‑up comments in January 2025; the gangway comment letter was issued in February 2025. Reviewers said they have had many exchanges with the project engineers but have not received all responses since February.
Key technical issues flagged by reviewers include whether portions of the project were designed to the top‑of‑levee event (the reviewers referenced the local flood of record and said top‑of‑levee loading can be 13–14 feet higher than the FEMA 100‑year elevation), pile penetrations of 30–40 feet where Corps guidance typically limits levee excavation to about 3 feet, and missing or inconsistent plan details such as riprap specifications to protect piles from scour.
Representatives of the Lawrenceburg Conservancy District (LCD) said the LCD has advanced its own engineering work to keep the project moving and has spent funds to that end. An LCD representative noted the district has paid about $150,000 on engineering and expects to be reimbursed; the council heard that reimbursement arrangements will be part of further negotiations if the project proceeds.
Several council members suggested removing the new gangway from the project if that would simplify permitting and reduce cost. Mundell said that eliminating the gangway would “make things easier” from the reviewers’ perspective because it would remove the component that physically penetrates the levee embankment and requires the Corps‑level analysis.
No formal council action was taken on the riverfront permits or the gangway at the work session. Council members agreed to take the matter under further internal discussion, including financing options and whether to pursue a public meeting on the riverfront plan. The council then moved to adjourn; the motion passed.
