Black River Technical College Receives Grant for Flood Mitigation Project

Trent Ingram, Director of Physical Plant, explaining the project to Dr. Brad Baine, Vice President of Academic Affairs; Jason Smith, Vice President for Enrollment Management; and Rhonda Stone, Vice President of Finance

POCAHONTAS, AR Jan. 25— Black River Technical College was recently notified by the Arkansas Division of Emergency Management (ADEM) that its grant application for flood mitigation was approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

BRTC received a $1,235,737.76 grant to construct a system of earthen berms, masonry wall, sump and discharge pipes around the perimeter of the main campus at Pocahontas. The construction of this berm will prevent any future destruction of the campus facilities by flood waters.

The funds for the BRTC Berm Project are made available through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) through ADEM. The college is currently advertising for bids on the project with a bid opening planned for February 5^th. A pre-bid meeting will be held on January 26^th.  Plans are for construction to get underway in March.

The college is working with CahoonSteiling Architecture of Jonesboro, and Ben DeClerk is the engineer overseeing the project. The total cost of the project is estimated to be $1,621,905.81.