Green Brook Flood Control Project

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Green Brook Flood Control is a flood control project in Somerset County in central New Jersey first proposed in the early 1970s in the wake of two major flooding events: a 1971 flood event and a major flood in August 1973, which ravaged the Green Brook and Raritan River basins with flooding, causing millions in property damage and several deaths in central New Jersey.

The Proposed Flood Control Measures in Bound Brook, New Jersey

The worst flooding in the Green Brook basin occurs in Bound Brook, which partially lies on a natural flood plain of the Raritan River at the junction of the Green Brook and Raritan River.

To address this flooding problem, the United States Army Corps of Engineers has proposed the Green Brook Sub Basin Flood Control Project, which entails numerous flood walls, levees, channel diversions, widening projects and retention basins throughout the Green Brook basin.[1]

Contents

[edit] Floodings during the project

The Green Brook Flood Control project has languished for decades due to a lack of federal funding. Hurricane Floyd in 1999 caused yet more property damage and deaths in the Green Brook basin, especially in Bound Brook, and reinvigorated the flood control project. As of 2006, two levees have been built on the western and eastern sides of Bound Brook. However, an important levee (R2) on the southwestern side of Bound Brook, which would prevent the Raritan River from flooding the downtown and nearby residential areas, has not been built, but is expected to be completed by the end of 2010.

Downtown Bound Brook, New Jersey, April 16, 2007

The April Nor'easter of 2007 flooded Bound Brook with the second highest crest ever recorded in the area, as the envisioned flood protection systems were not yet fully in place. However, the April 2007 flooding did reinvigorate efforts to complete the flood levee protection system around Bound Brook, to protect it from future flooding. As of May 2007, with approximately $10 million per year of funding anticipated in coming years, it appears that sufficient federal funding will be available to complete the Raritan River flood levee system around Bound Brook by the end of the current decade.

[edit] Current Status

The Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE) and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) are moving forward with two contracts for the Green Brook Flood Control Project, both of which are located in Bound Brook:

  • 1. Talmadge Avenue Bridge Replacement (Will Allow Building of the R2 Levee Along Raritan River in Bound Brook) – The contract for the Talmadge Avenue Bridge Replacement was awarded on May 25, 2007 to Rencor Contracting of Somerville, NJ at a cost of $14 million. [1] As of December 2008, a temporary bridge is in place and traffic has been diverted over the temporary bridge. The replacement bridge, which will be built to the height of the R2 Levee to prevent Middle Brook/Raritan River waters from entering Bound Brook from the west, is scheduled to be completed in November 2010. As of October 2009, the replacement bridge pylons and bridge abutments have been constructed and the bridge deck structure is being put into place. The former Apollo Glass property adjacent to the bridge has been acquired by the federal government to provide Talmadage Avenue access to the temporary bridge during the construction of the new bridge.[2] The bridge replacement must be completed prior to the completion of the Raritan River Flood Levee System (R2 Levee) around Bound Brook.
  • 2. R2 Levee System – Construction of the R2 Levee System has commenced as of September 2009. A portion of the R2 Levee is now visible just south of Talmadge Avenue. Construction bids for the R2 Levee System, including the Raritan River levee, flood wall, and pump station were opened on September 29, 2008, and the contract was awarded to Scafar of Newark, NJ for $15.7 million.[3] Funding to complete the R2 Levee System is in place. According to the Green Brook Flood Control Commission May 2008 meeting notes, work on the R2 Levee System will be completed 18 months after work begins, or approximately the end of 2010.[4] The R2 Levee System will start in the southwestern part of Bound Brook on the south side of the new Talmadge Avenue Bridge, and briefly follow the Middle Brook's east bank, then loop around the southern side of Bound Brook along Raritan River's north bank, where the Raritan River creates the southern boundary of the borough, to an area slightly west of the Bound Brook train station. The R2 Levee System is designed to provide Bound Brook with protection from a 150-year flood level. However, the 150-year flood protection will only be achieved when the entire levee system is in place, including the two closure gates. The levee will be built in conjunction with the construction of the raised Talmage Avenue Bridge. Permits for the R2 Levee System have been approved by the state of New Jersey. Design of flood control gates where the levee will cross the railroad tracks south of the Talmage Avenue Bridge and just south of the roundabout on South Main Street (where the road leads under the railroad tracks and onto Queens Bridge) is ongoing, and is reported as 90% complete as of March 2009. [2] The contract for the flood control gates is expected to be awarded in 2009, and work will commence as funding becomes available.

To improve water flow through Bound Brook, the former Conrail bridge over the Raritan River and its associated railroad embankment that were located east of Bound Brook were removed during 2007. The bridge and embankment, when they were in place, acted to block the river flow through the Bound Brook area. To build the main Bound Brook R2 levee, the bridge and embankment needed to be removed.[5]

The Finderne Wetlands Mitigation Project (also known as Finderne Farms) is a wetlands project upstream of Bound Brook in Bridgewater, New Jersey that is tied into the Green Brook Flood Control project. When completed, Finderne Farms will serve as a Somerset County park with trails through wetlands and ballfields. More importantly, Finderne Farms will serve as an upstream wetland that will help to reduce flooding in the Raritan River valley by providing space for floodwaters to pool.

A roadway bridge called the Sebrings Bridge, which crosses the Green Brook and links the towns of Green Brook, New Jersey and Middlesex, New Jersey, will be replaced in 2010 and 2011, as part of the Green Brook Flood Control project. The bridge currently slows water flow in the Green Brook during periods of high water runoff and causes flooding in the areas upstream of the bridge. The new bridge will be widened and raised to ease water flow. Federal funding is in place for Fiscal Year 2011 for the bridge replacement. Replacement of the bridge also will allow for additional future flood mitigation measures in the areas adjacent to the bridge, such as additional flood walls and levees.

[edit] References

  1. ^ US Army Corps of Engineers New York District: GREEN BROOK SUB BASIN, NJ, accessed May 10, 2006.
  2. ^ a b Meetings
  3. ^ http://gbfcc.org/db3/00291/gbfcc.org/_download/MINUTES2008.10.01F.doc October2008 Meeting Minutes
  4. ^ May 2008 Meeting Minutes
  5. ^ February Meeting Minutes

[edit] External links

[edit] River Gauge

  • Raritan River Gauge, Bound Brook, New Jersey - Observation gauge approximately one-half mile west (upstream) of Bound Brook, NJ, just below Calco Dam. Main Street in Bound Brook floods when the river reaches a 30 foot stage.
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