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Funding sources sought for $15 million Potsdam drainage canal rebuild

Posted 5/23/18

  By CRAIG FREILICH POTSDAM -- Potsdam will need about $15 million to rehabilitate the drainage canal that runs through the village and parts of the township, according to consulting engineers. …

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Funding sources sought for $15 million Potsdam drainage canal rebuild

Posted

 By CRAIG FREILICH

POTSDAM -- Potsdam will need about $15 million to rehabilitate the drainage canal that runs through the village and parts of the township, according to consulting engineers.

The aging storm water canal has proved inadequate to handle rainwater well enough to prevent flooding in parts of the village during heavy or sustained rainfall.

Village trustees heard from representatives of Environmental Design and Research (EDR) who said the work could be carried out in two stages. One stage would be for rebuilding the canal, some of which is a century old, and another for finding one or two sites for storm water storage upstream.

The rebuilding phase would cost an estimated $6 to $7 million, and the subsequent stage about another $8 million, said Mike Tamblin and Charles Prior of EDR, who presented a report to village trustees at their meeting Monday night.

While there had been some flooding problems before, the issue became more apparent in 2010 after a series of relatively low-intensity storms followed by a larger one, which resulted in substantial flooding to homes and yards in neighborhoods between Leroy and Market streets.

EDR has completed an initial rehabilitation job, with an inspection that found choke points, particularly one where freshwater and sewer lines put in after the canal was built were creating a jam. That has been rebuilt.

Parts of the canal – actually a collection of lines around the village and out into the town – have been rebuilt in varying degrees over the years. However some of that work, such as using timbers and road paving to cover previously open sections, is deteriorating.

There was a collapse of a section on Canal Street near Market Street earlier this spring, and other collapses last fall. The Canal Street collapse was repaired but it reveals some of the weaknesses of the system.

Some parts of the canal were an open ditch before being lined with sandstone or concrete and covered with timbers, road surface, or steel plates at one time or another.

The next stage in the project, as described by Tamblin and Prior, is a “structural rehabilitation phase, reinforcing the walls and replacing the roofing,” to maintain the integrity of the lines and improve flow.

The next stage would involve “storm water storage upstream” which would “reduce the peak runoff rate” to prevent collection of runoff in places that cannot handle the flow.

The engineers talked about one or two spots of about an acre each to the east where berms could be built to catch water in an earthen basin with a weir at one end to regulate outflow.

There is substantial state and federal money for projects like this, the consultants said, including the USDA Rural Development Program and state Office of Community Renewal, Empire State Development and other water project funds, some running on annual cycles and some with more flexibility. There could be some benefit in town and village consolidation of grant applications.

The EDR engineers said they would report back when they have a clearer picture of funding needs and opportunities.