WASHINGTON — Commuters should plan ahead for a road closure impacting downtown D.C. Wednesday, Sept. 24 crews will conduct annual levee testing on 17th St. in northwest. 17th St. from Constitution Avenue NW to Independence Avenue SW will be closed from 5 a.m. until 2 p.m.

The levee is operated and maintained by the National Park Service. At its highest point, the levee is 10-feet-tall. If it is needed, huge steel beams will come up out of the sidewalk and the street along 17th to hold concrete slabs into place.

Those concrete slabs would be responsible to hold back millions of gallons of flood water from the Potomac River at the base of 17th Street.

National Park Service spokesman Mike Litterst said those concrete barriers are loaded on flatbeds and ready to go on a moment’s notice an

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