ARBORFIELD — Two and a half years after a major flood hit Arborfield, the town is looking for a consultant to review a nearby berm and drainage works.
The berm is adjacent to Burntout Creek, located south of the town. It was built in 2006 as a flood protection measure due to repeated overflow of the creek, was damaged during the 2016 flood.
The consulting work, which is up for bid, is being done as part of the province’s flood damage reduction program. The previous step for the program was a long-term flood mitigation investigation report done in 2018.
“That was done as the initial investigation done by the Water Security Agency , and from that report we applied for the flood damage reduction program,” said Lisa Hamelin, Arborfield’s town administrator.
The 2018 report says the Burntout Creek grid road structure has a capacity of 40 cubic metres per second and the Town of Arborfield conveyance works leading to the east channel has a capacity of five to 10 cubic metres per second. Rain from the 2016 flood generated a peak daily discharge of more that 65 cubic metres per second, overwhelming the system.
“Flood water came from both the south along Burntout Creek and overland from the east,” said Doug Brook from DWB Technologies, the technical inspector for the report. “The east sewage lift station was struck by lightning knocking out the power. With the pumps not operating, the sewer system quickly backed up into basements.”
The town was notified of the danger from Burntout Creek and started an evacuation. All residents were allowed back into town after 36 hours once the water had receded, power and other utilities were restored and the threat was over.
Now the town is searching for professional engineering services to contract so they can perform further investigation.
“Right now we are just requesting proposals from consulting firms to do the investigative work,” Hamelin said. “We’re asking them to submit quotes for work investigating the existing berm that is there.”
It is the town's intention to license the drainage works under the Water Security Agency Act and make necessary repairs. The engineering services would also include the design of berm repair and rehabilitation works and an assessment of the impacts to private property based on recommended design.
All consulting work is required to be complete by March 31, 2019.
