City leaders in Kent are celebrating the removal of giant sandbags that have been lining the Green River Trail since 2009.

Nearly 20,000 bags are within the city limits, each 1 cubic yard in volume and weighing about 1.5 tons.

The approximately 3-foot high sandbags were installed to provide extra flood protection to the cities of Kent, Auburn and Tukwila after the 2009 announcement by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers that severe flooding was possible due to a damaged Howard Hanson Dam embankment.

The Corps announced last fall that it is once again operating the dam at full capacity.

The sandbags are filled with low-grade fill, which isn’t suitable for sanding streets, use in gardens, sandboxes or constructing sidewalks and patios, the city said.   The fill material will be delivered to Cedar Grove Composting, which will determine how it can be best used.

The plastic sand barriers that are in usable condition will be cleaned and returned to the Corps, which loaned the barriers to the cities. The metal of any damaged barriers will be recycled and the linings disposed.

The cost for removal of the sandbags is shared between the Flood Control District and the cities, with the District paying about $4.4 million and the cities paying about $1.4 million collectively. Kent’s portion is nearly $224,000.

The bags are all expected to be removed from Kent by the end of September, allowing the public full access to the popular Green River Trail.