HAMMOND | A post-flood inspection of the federal levee system has found evidence of only three or four remaining logjams as areas of concern and those already may have been taken care of, officials with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said.

"The Corps' levee appears to have performed very well structurally," said Imad Samara, Corps project manager for the Little Calumet River Flood Control Project.

But the inspection also took in areas where the new levee is incomplete.

Samara, who did not accompany the team that performed the inspection, said the four-page report, released Thursday, is expected to reach the affected communities this week.

The results include a recommendation to notify the responsible parties that logjams need to be dealt with right away, Samara said.

"The locals need to take out those logjams, which are a hindrance to the flow of water," he said.

Samara said the inspection team comprised six Corps members with varying disciplines and Jim Pokrajac, engineer for the Little Calumet River Basin Commission.

Prior to the report's release, Pokrajac had indicated the inspection turned up only a few logjams and the levee worked where it was fully constructed. In areas that weren't fully constructed, flooding occurred because sandbags weren't used in a timely fashion or not at all.

The report shows the inspection team on Oct. 5 made 11 stops south of the river from the vicinity of Lyman Avenue in Hammond east to Harrison Street in Gary, Samara said. The report indicates trouble spots appeared in the vicinity of Manor Avenue and Tapper Avenue in Munster and areas east of Kennedy Avenue in Hammond. It notes the severe overtopping of the old levee in Munster.

Samara and Lynne Whelan, public affairs officer for the Corps, said the logjams the team observed the day of the inspection could already have been removed. The report does not address the lingering effect on the bridges along the path of the levee, they said.

Whelan said the inspection was part of a Corps program through which inspections are periodically performed.

"The purpose of this one was to allow the design team to observe the possible impact (of the flood) to ongoing design," Samara said.

Each affected community also has received a form to fill out about any damage they believe may have occurred, he said.

Logjams are expected to be mitigated only somewhat by the new federal levee, Samara said.

"Logjams usually happen at a culvert that the river is going through," he said. "Our floodwall will reduce the amount of logjams because part of that is clearing the area of dead trees and other debris that accumulate on the banks of the river on the old levee."

But a buffer of 15 feet along the new levee where nothing can be planted is primarily to ensure structural integrity, he said.

Samara said logjams must continue to be a focus on the operation and maintenance of the new levee as it's completed.

"It can't wait for an inspection every year," he said.