(Radio Iowa) — Three flood-prone sections of Interstate 29 in southwest Iowa were raised last year and while they’re still not flood-proof, the Iowa Department of Transportation says they are ready to weather future flooding. The D-O-T’s Austin Yates says I-29 and nearby I-680 are typically impacted the same way during a flood.  “Right now, with all this work done, I-29 and I-680 will be able to remain open together at the same time,” Yates says. “We’re not going to have to close one before the other.”

The three sections were raised different heights, ranging from two inches to 14 inches to more than two feet. Yates says the new asphalt is a big clue something has changed, but drivers may not notice the road is higher. He says it’s kind of like target practice. “If you’re aiming at a target that’s 50 feet away and you raise that target up a foot,” he says, “your eye isn’t going to need to move to see that.”

The three sections include northbound I-29 from Honey Creek to Loveland, a stretch of southbound I-29 north of Crescent, and a stretch near Blackbird Marsh. Yates said flooding would’ve still closed those parts of I-29 in March, but not in September or June, if the changes had already been in place.

(Reporting by Katie Peikes, Iowa Public Radio)