Those slate gray concrete walls that parallel the Ohio River loom 11 feet above the ground, like a monument to the survival of those who endured the 1937 Flood.

The formidable presence of the network of floodwalls offers a sense of security, a reassurance that that disaster will never happen again.

Nearby are the earthen levees, just as visible, just as comforting.

However the heart and soul of the multi-million dollar flood control project is the series of nine pumping stations hidden in dome-shaped buildings that dot Ironton.

That’s because when the Ohio rises, it doesn’t rush across the landscape like a mini tidal wave. Instead the river first comes in through an underground network of storm pipes that normally take stormwater out of town dumping it into the river.

“It starts flooding basements, when it first comes up,” Mike Pemberton, Ironton’s Flood Control Department Superintendent, said.

As the river comes up, the signal goes out to trigger the sluice gates — metal covering on the drainpipes at the river’s edge.

“Once closed, the water has no place to go,” Pemberton said. “We pump it out at the pump station.”

As the sluice gates go down when the river comes up, the water underground goes into the pumping station where it is pumped over the levee to the other side of the river.

It is a system that has protected the cities along the Ohio since it was first built as an Army Corps of Engineers project in the early 1940s.

In Ironton alone there are about five miles of earthen levees with one mile of concrete floodwalls. In 1941 the local project cost $2,443,700 with the city’s portion at $669,000.

Not once in 71 years has the system failed to keep Ironton safe. But not once in 71 years has any part of the system been replaced, except for one pumping station motor. It’s an infrastructure with age on it.

At least once a year the Corps inspects the city’s flood control system and it was recently that during an inspections that one of the pumping station motors blew up from a large amount of moisture that had collected on it.

Replacing that smalle Westinghouse motor cost $7,000 with one made in Mexico. The cost of repairing one of the larger motors would run about $18,000, if it were repairable, Pemberton estimates. To replace it could range from $20,000 to $25,000.

After Hurricane Katrina the Army Corps of Engineers modified the way a flood control system is inspected, Pemberton said. It used to be an inspection report was only four pages, now it can end up to be almost an inch thick.

During the inspection on Oct. 20, the city’s flood system came in at minimally acceptable.

Some of the reasons for that came from problems at the levees including debris left by an adjacent landowner, trees too close to the levee and a landowner’s deck and fence encroaching on the levee.

“How do you go into someone’s backyard and cut their trees down that have been there since the levy was built,” Pemberton said. “To do this, enforce this, would take some legislation from council and the state. I don’t know how to correct the problem to go after the property owner.”

While currently flood control protection remains in perfect shape, Pemberton warns that the future must be considered.

“The city should start to look at upgrades to the pumps and the old electrical switch gears in the near future, replacing the things,” Pemberton said. “Everything has a lifespan and wears out.”