The concrete river channels before you are part of the Pittsburgh District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineer's [sic], Johnstown Local Flood Protection Project (JLFPP). It is the longest paved channelization project in Pennsylvania and one of the largest in the United States. Congress authorized construction of the project through amendments to the landmark federal Flood Control Act of 1936. The project is a specialized engineering structure eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places.
The JLFPP was constructed between 1938 and 1943 to handle river flows equivalent to those experienced in Johnstown during the 1936 St. Patrick's Day flood. Flood protection improvements consisted of deepening and widening the channels in the Conemaugh, Little Conemaugh, and Stonycreek rivers and the construction of concrete side slopes and floodwalls.
The project has been a success. In its six decades, the project was overtopped only once during the exceptional "500-year flood" of 1977. Through 2002, the project has provided over $803 million in flood damage prevention benefits.
[Photo captions read]
[Top] Johnstown Local Flood Protection Project, 1941
[Bottom] The "Point", 1930s
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