About $1 million has been awarded by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to continue the flood control project on the Roanoke River, according to a release issued Friday by U.S. Rep. Bob Goodlatte and U.S. Sen. Jim Webb.

As part of the $981,000 project, construction will begin in September on a flood wall upstream of Walnut Avenue Southeast. Branch Highways will handle construction.

Project manager Jan Brodmerkel, with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, said the flood wall, mostly concrete and earth, will be built on the north side of the river and extend about 2,000 feet between Walnut Avenue Southeast and the Honeytree Child Care Center on South Jefferson Street. In addition to the wall, the contract also provides for landscaping, including trees and shrubs, along the wall for additional protection.

Brodmerkel said the project should be completed by January 2009.

The flood wall will run just east of an old scrap yard and mill being acquired for Carilion Clinic's Riverside Center. The Riverside Center includes a main clinic building, a future medical school and other structures under development along Reserve Avenue and South Jefferson Street.

"Numerous times in our city's history, the river has spilled over her banks, destroying property and sometimes taking lives," Goodlatte said in the release. "The construction of this flood wall puts us one step closer to completing this comprehensive flood control plan which will ultimately protect lives and property."