ASHLAND, Neb. (AP) — Construction has begun on the final phase of a Platte River levee project near Ashland in eastern Nebraska.

In 1993 a massive ice jam forced floodwaters through Lincoln’s well fields near Ashland, exposing and damaging pipelines, closing Interstate 80 and U.S. Highway 6 and damaging homes and buildings along the river.

After the flooding, federal and local officials devised a plan to fix the levee system on both sides of the river. The project began in 2004 and has been completed in phases as federal and local funds became available.

Once complete, the levee project will protect homes and buildings, farmland, drinking water pipelines for Lincoln and Omaha, and the Nebraska Army National Guard’s training grounds at Camp Ashland.