Road Guy
Well-known member
[SIZE=medium]For different reasons (after I was personally sued on a project and had several emails recanted back to me during a 7 hour deposition, I started making lots more phone calls than emails) but I see your point![/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]After our big 150 year storm in 2011 we had an entire subdivision entrance flooded out and while the road was mostly ok emergency crews (fire trucks, ambulances, etc) couldn’t not drive into the neighborhood due to the depth of the water (3’ or so). This was one of those neighborhoods (when it was built) where previously it was denied by staff but politics got the neighborhood approved since the houses were out of the floodplain but the entrance road wasn’t. That approval was maybe in the 1990’s? This neighborhood was less than 1200 feet from a little river called the Chattahoochee (Alan Jackson song), which is a river that is a couple hundred feet across in some places..[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]So after the flood we had a project planned to replace an old flat slab bridge with a triple box culvert. We figured out a way to raise the profile just enough so that the entrance wouldn’t be underwater if it rained like that again. We had the COE all happy, the FEMA flood people all happy, (designed it so we could raise the road and still had a no-rise-since the new hydraulic opening was larger than the existing bridge).[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Only drawback was the subdivision entrance was going to get wiped out and rebuilt. This is one of those semi million dollar houses with a guard shack, gate, flowers, and **** (all on the right of way i.e. not on their property)..[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]So after 2 years of me personally dealing with the COE & FEMA folks to okay the raising of the road we get called out by the elected official to the site and says we can replace the flat slab bridge (small bridge for those of you not in the know) but that he wouldn’t approve raising the road. I reminded him of the last flood, the proximity to the river, and that I wasn’t going to be responsible if there was another event and someone had an emergency and couldn’t get access to an ambulance, He then murmured something about that wont happen again (this road overtopped even in 20 year storm events some times). I then pull the ‘I have to hear that from the County Manager” card. Which doesn’t go over well with the commissioner of course…[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]His rationale was that the road flooded because the bridge was too small and that it didn’t have anything to do with being close to the river. Partially true the bridge was too small but even replacing the bridge we modeled it 600 ways till Sunday and we still had to raise the road about a foot to get the subdivision entrance out of even the 50 year storm. (We figured it would still be a few inches underwater during that storm- but we hoped the drainage models were conservative)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]I go back to the office, meet with the boss and the County Manager who direct me to replace the bridge but not raise the road, I asked for that direction to be put in writing, they refused. So I wrote one of those emails to all parties involved “This is to clarify the discussions held earlier today with directed me to do…………” I still have a copy of that one. Hope it doesn’t ever flood again, but I hate to spend $1 Million of taxpayer money and not fully fix the problem….cause if it does it is sure going to look nice in the news that some old lady died because her mega HOA didn’t want to have the front entrance of their subdivision damaged (& we were even going to rebuild most of it) ****….[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]These days I don’t have these problems anymore- I truly enjoyed my time in the public service but lots and lots of these type situations just get very old……[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]After our big 150 year storm in 2011 we had an entire subdivision entrance flooded out and while the road was mostly ok emergency crews (fire trucks, ambulances, etc) couldn’t not drive into the neighborhood due to the depth of the water (3’ or so). This was one of those neighborhoods (when it was built) where previously it was denied by staff but politics got the neighborhood approved since the houses were out of the floodplain but the entrance road wasn’t. That approval was maybe in the 1990’s? This neighborhood was less than 1200 feet from a little river called the Chattahoochee (Alan Jackson song), which is a river that is a couple hundred feet across in some places..[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]So after the flood we had a project planned to replace an old flat slab bridge with a triple box culvert. We figured out a way to raise the profile just enough so that the entrance wouldn’t be underwater if it rained like that again. We had the COE all happy, the FEMA flood people all happy, (designed it so we could raise the road and still had a no-rise-since the new hydraulic opening was larger than the existing bridge).[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]Only drawback was the subdivision entrance was going to get wiped out and rebuilt. This is one of those semi million dollar houses with a guard shack, gate, flowers, and **** (all on the right of way i.e. not on their property)..[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]So after 2 years of me personally dealing with the COE & FEMA folks to okay the raising of the road we get called out by the elected official to the site and says we can replace the flat slab bridge (small bridge for those of you not in the know) but that he wouldn’t approve raising the road. I reminded him of the last flood, the proximity to the river, and that I wasn’t going to be responsible if there was another event and someone had an emergency and couldn’t get access to an ambulance, He then murmured something about that wont happen again (this road overtopped even in 20 year storm events some times). I then pull the ‘I have to hear that from the County Manager” card. Which doesn’t go over well with the commissioner of course…[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]His rationale was that the road flooded because the bridge was too small and that it didn’t have anything to do with being close to the river. Partially true the bridge was too small but even replacing the bridge we modeled it 600 ways till Sunday and we still had to raise the road about a foot to get the subdivision entrance out of even the 50 year storm. (We figured it would still be a few inches underwater during that storm- but we hoped the drainage models were conservative)[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]I go back to the office, meet with the boss and the County Manager who direct me to replace the bridge but not raise the road, I asked for that direction to be put in writing, they refused. So I wrote one of those emails to all parties involved “This is to clarify the discussions held earlier today with directed me to do…………” I still have a copy of that one. Hope it doesn’t ever flood again, but I hate to spend $1 Million of taxpayer money and not fully fix the problem….cause if it does it is sure going to look nice in the news that some old lady died because her mega HOA didn’t want to have the front entrance of their subdivision damaged (& we were even going to rebuild most of it) ****….[/SIZE]
[SIZE=medium]These days I don’t have these problems anymore- I truly enjoyed my time in the public service but lots and lots of these type situations just get very old……[/SIZE]
