Rehabilitation of the southwest quadrant of the Herbert Hoover Dike around Florida’s Lake Okeechobee is expected to begin in the spring following the Jan. 31 award of a $387-million multiple-award task-order contract to the Bauer Foundation Corp., Bencor Global Inc. and Treviicos South Inc. by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The contractors will compete for each of five task orders to construct seepage cutoff walls from the dike crest through the foundation for 28.6 miles of the 143-mile dike. The cutoff wall consists of cement bentonite slurry poured into the body of the earthen dike to prevent seepage under the structure that could erode it and cause it to fail.

More than $1 billion has been invested in work to reduce risk at the dike structure since 2001, Corps officials say. This will be the final section of the dike’s cutoff wall. Completion is scheduled in 2022.