Flood control maintenance in Talkeetna wraps up for the year

Western Construction Co. is wrapping up work to reinforce and do minor repairs on flood protection facilities at Talkeetna, Mat-Su Borough Public Works Director Tom Adams said.

High waters were less a problem this summer at least compared with last year, when flooding along the Talkeetna and Susitna Rivers overflowed flood protection, causing significant damage to a protective revetment built along the Susitna as well as bank erosion along the river.

This year there has been less rainfall and Mat-Su officials say they are mainly in a monitoring mode as compared with last year when an emergency repair project had to be instigated.

High water in August created minor “overtopping” of water over revetment built along the Susitna this year but it was minor compared with 2023. The dike is built near the Alaska Railroad railroad bridge as well as a location where the Susitna, Chulitna, and Talkeetna Rivers come together.

Last year bank erosion caused by flooding along the Susitna reached about 80 feet in from the river, Adams. There was no property damage but if it were to occur again there could be recreation cabins threatened. At some point nearby Alaska Railroad tracks could be affected, too, Adams said.

The river dike in Talkeetna has been in place since the 1970s and extends several hundred feet along the Talkeetena River from the community’s center to a bridge built across the river to support the Alaska Railroad.