{
  "story": {
    "slug": "juneau-just-doubled-its-wall",
    "headline": "juneau just doubled its wall",
    "deck": "Juneau is rebuilding its flood barrier to be roughly twice the size of last year and the timing is everything.",
    "url": "https://thedailyalaska.com/story/juneau-just-doubled-its-wall",
    "section": "Politics",
    "area": "Juneau",
    "published_at": "2026-05-07T20:00:00+00:00",
    "updated_at": "2026-10-02T06:12:46.916181+00:00",
    "body_md": "Juneau is doubling the size of its flood wall. The City and Borough of Juneau and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are racing to finish a major rebuild of the Mendenhall River flood barrier before summer melt season fully arrives.\n\nConstruction kicked off the week of March 16 along Clinton Drive with bank armoring work before installing temporary HESCO barriers. The new wall sits higher and wider, with heavier rock armor along the banks, and it stretches farther in both directions than last year's version.\n\nPhase two extends the barrier upstream to the Back Loop Bridge and downstream nearly all the way to the Juneau International Airport. In some places along the route, the temporary HESCO blocks will be stacked four high or more. The Army Corps stepped in to lead phase two and is covering the estimated 19 million dollar price tag.\n\nGlacier outburst floods from a basin above the Mendenhall Glacier have hit Mendenhall Valley homes two summers running. The rebuild is meant to keep the next round of melt from repeating that damage, with construction scheduled to wrap by July 15.",
    "sources": [
      {
        "url": "https://alaskapublic.org/news/public-safety/2026-05-01/juneaus-flood-wall-to-be-rebuilt-to-withstand-glacial-outburst-floods-double-the-size-of-last-year",
        "label": "alaskapublic.org"
      }
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  },
  "envelope": {
    "story_id": "f71ea3d3-213a-4f08-97eb-806cfa66f2b3",
    "slug": "juneau-just-doubled-its-wall",
    "summary": "The City and Borough of Juneau and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers are rebuilding the Mendenhall River flood wall to roughly double its prior size, extending it from the Back Loop Bridge to near the Juneau International Airport, at an estimated cost of 19 million dollars, to be finished by July 15, 2026 ahead of glacier outburst flood season.",
    "key_facts": [
      "Construction began the week of March 16 along Clinton Drive with bank armoring before HESCO barrier installation.",
      "Phase two extends the wall upstream to the Back Loop Bridge and downstream nearly to the Juneau International Airport.",
      "The Army Corps of Engineers is covering the estimated 19 million dollar cost of phase two.",
      "HESCO blocks will be stacked four high or more in some locations.",
      "The wall is scheduled to be finished by July 15, 2026.",
      "Glacier outburst floods from a basin above the Mendenhall Glacier have hit Mendenhall Valley homes two summers in a row."
    ],
    "faq": [
      {
        "a": "Glacier outburst floods from a basin above the Mendenhall Glacier have flooded Mendenhall Valley homes two summers in a row, so the city is nearly doubling the wall to protect those neighborhoods.",
        "q": "Why is Juneau rebuilding its flood wall?"
      },
      {
        "a": "The estimated cost is $19 million, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is covering it.",
        "q": "How much will the project cost and who pays?"
      },
      {
        "a": "Construction is scheduled to wrap by July 15, 2026, ahead of the next glacier melt season.",
        "q": "When will the new flood wall be done?"
      },
      {
        "a": "It's roughly twice the size of last year's wall, with a higher, wider structure and heavier rock armor along the banks.",
        "q": "How much bigger is the new wall?"
      }
    ],
    "claims": [
      {
        "claim": "The new flood wall is roughly twice the size of last year's barrier.",
        "confidence": "sourced",
        "source_url": "https://alaskapublic.org/news/public-safety/2026-05-01/juneaus-flood-wall-to-be-rebuilt-to-withstand-glacial-outburst-floods-double-the-size-of-last-year",
        "source_label": "alaskapublic.org"
      },
      {
        "claim": "The Army Corps of Engineers is covering an estimated 19 million dollar cost for phase two.",
        "confidence": "sourced",
        "source_url": "https://alaskapublic.org/news/public-safety/2026-05-01/juneaus-flood-wall-to-be-rebuilt-to-withstand-glacial-outburst-floods-double-the-size-of-last-year",
        "source_label": "alaskapublic.org"
      },
      {
        "claim": "Phase two extends the wall upstream to the Back Loop Bridge and downstream nearly to the Juneau International Airport.",
        "confidence": "sourced",
        "source_url": "https://alaskapublic.org/news/public-safety/2026-05-01/juneaus-flood-wall-to-be-rebuilt-to-withstand-glacial-outburst-floods-double-the-size-of-last-year",
        "source_label": "alaskapublic.org"
      },
      {
        "claim": "Construction is scheduled to finish by July 15.",
        "confidence": "sourced",
        "source_url": "https://alaskapublic.org/news/public-safety/2026-05-01/juneaus-flood-wall-to-be-rebuilt-to-withstand-glacial-outburst-floods-double-the-size-of-last-year",
        "source_label": "alaskapublic.org"
      }
    ],
    "locations": [
      {
        "area": "Southeast",
        "kind": "site",
        "name": "Mendenhall River"
      },
      {
        "area": "Southeast",
        "kind": "neighborhood",
        "name": "Mendenhall Valley"
      },
      {
        "area": "Southeast",
        "kind": "site",
        "name": "Back Loop Bridge"
      },
      {
        "area": "Southeast",
        "kind": "road",
        "name": "Clinton Drive"
      },
      {
        "area": "Southeast",
        "kind": "facility",
        "name": "Juneau International Airport"
      },
      {
        "area": "Southeast",
        "kind": "neighborhood",
        "name": "Auke Bay"
      }
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    "people": [],
    "organizations": [
      {
        "kind": "government",
        "name": "City and Borough of Juneau"
      },
      {
        "kind": "agency",
        "name": "U.S. Army Corps of Engineers"
      }
    ],
    "event_dates": [
      {
        "date": "2026-03-16",
        "label": "Construction begins on Clinton Drive bank armoring"
      },
      {
        "date": "2026-07-15",
        "label": "Flood wall construction scheduled to finish"
      }
    ],
    "story_status": "ongoing",
    "what_changed": null,
    "keywords": [
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      "mendenhall river flood barrier",
      "army corps of engineers juneau",
      "glacier outburst flood juneau",
      "mendenhall valley flooding",
      "hesco barriers juneau",
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    ],
    "disclosure": "Produced with AI assistance, narrated with Slav Lund's voice clone with his consent, and reviewed by a person before publishing.",
    "generated_at": "2026-10-01T05:19:39.054+00:00",
    "reviewed_at": null,
    "updated_at": "2026-10-02T06:12:46.916181+00:00"
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