HASTINGS, Minn. – The Army Corps of Engineers awarded a $10 million contract to Three Oaks Construction, of Sioux City, South Dakota, to construct a protective island upstream from the Mississippi River dam near Hastings. The island will buffer the 3,250-foot earthen embankment from further deterioration, the Corps said. The embankment was constructed in 1930 and has since suffered degradation due to weather, lack of vegetation, and high-water events. The island will be built from river sediment in the Mississippi navigation channel. The project is expected to take 1-1/2 years beginning this spring.
