Associated Press - November 7, 2009 11:54 AM ET

HICKMAN, Ky. (AP) - The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has announced plans to install permanent flood gates at two gaps in the floodwall in Hickman.

For years, city workers in this town on the Kentucky-Tennessee border have had to manually place timbers across the two gaps to keep the Mississippi River at bay during floods.

City Manager Larry Myatt says putting the barriers in place whenever there is an announcement of a 50 foot or above river crest on the Cairo, Ill., gage is time-consuming and sometimes dangerous.

Myatt told KYTN radio that work on the gates could begin as soon as July.

Information from: WYVY-FM, http://www.kytnradio.com

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