Contractors have completed the first half of a project to improve Black River levees along North Riverview Drive.
A 600-foot section south of Bartlett Street was raised and widened last week.
Similar work will be completed on a 200-foot section of levee north of Bartlett Street after coordinating with the city, said Mathis and Associates engineer Todd Sittig.
The work was ordered by Drainage District 12, which is operated by Butler County commissioners.
About $62,000 in grant money is being used to pay for the work. The money was left over from Delta Regional Authority money awarded to study the Black River levees and determine what improvements are needed.
County leaders hope this work will help improve the federal rating on about 4 miles of the earthen barrier surrounding the Black River.
Drainage District 12 levees have been under provisional accreditation for more than four years. Maintained by the county and city, these helped protect east Poplar Bluff during severe flooding in 2008 and 2011.
The levees do not meet current federal standards, Sittig has said previously. The accreditation status determines which properties would be in danger during a 100-year flood, and which properties need flood insurance.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have cited issues with the height and width of portions of the levee, as well as the condition of slopes. Other problems with the levee have included holes, the location of utility poles and vegetation.
The county already has removed more than 90 percent of the objects within the levee, including power poles, officials have said.
Sittig expects to send the new levee data to FEMA by the summer, after this project and some other work is complete.
It could take time for it to be reviewed, Sittig has warned. The levee program has also undergone numerous changes in past years, which has slowed down this process.
While under provisional accreditation, there have been no changes for residents, Sittig has said. If the levee were to lose accreditation, which county officials do not expect to happen, more residents would have to purchase flood insurance, he said.