The Dallas Floodway project consists of a complex system that includes levee embankments, a concrete floodwall, sumps and pumping stations, bridge crossings, conduits, and other penetrations. Only a brief description is included here. More details are described in subsequent sections dealing with potential failure modes and risks. The Dallas Floodway project is located on the Elm Fork, West Fork and Trinity River in Dallas, Texas. The project includes 22.6 miles of levee embankments: 11.7 miles on the northeast levee (usually referred to as the East levee) and 10.9 miles along the southwest levee (generally referred to as the West levee). The East levee protects the Stemmons Corridor (a major transportation route through the City), and parts of Downtown Dallas and the Central Business District from flooding on the Trinity River, while U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Risk Management Center the West levee protects a large portion of West Dallas (largely residential areas). These embankments were originally constructed by the City of Dallas and the Dallas County Levee Improvement District in the 1930’s in response to extreme flooding along the Trinity River in 1908. Originally constructed with 2.5H:1V side slopes, a maximum height of 35 feet and a crest width of 6 feet, the levee system was “strengthened” by USACE in the late 1950s by flattening the side slopes and increasing the crest width to 16 feet in a river-side shift. There are several pump stations on both the East and West Levees. These pump stations have low areas near them where water collects on the land side to be pumped out. These low areas are referred to as “sumps”. The levee embankments are generally comprised of low plasticity clays and high plasticity clays founded on recent alluvial soils. The concrete floodwall is located on the downstream end of the east levee, with a crest elevation generally a few feet lower than the embankment. The alluvial floodplain soils generally consist of alluvial clay deposits, underlain by sandier deposits (becoming coarser with depth), followed by basal sands and gravels. The basal sands and gravels mark the bedrock contact with the Eagle Ford Shale or the Austin Chalk.