Green Brook Flood Control Project

Last updated

The Green Brook Flood Control Project 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 1973 flood which ravaged the Green Brook and Raritan River basins, causing millions in property damage and several deaths in central New Jersey.

Contents

The proposed flood control measures in Bound Brook, New Jersey BB Flood Control.jpg
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]

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. 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 been completed. Full 150 year protection of downtown and nearby residential areas of Bound Brook is effectively in place with final construction due to be completed by the summer of 2014.

Downtown Bound Brook, New Jersey, April 16, 2007 Boundbrook041607.jpg
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.

Flooding of downtown occurred in August 2011 when Hurricane Irene passed along the East Coast. [2]

Current status

  1. The R2 levee system is functionally complete – The R2 Levee System is designed to provide Bound Brook with protection from a 150-year flood level. The levee is built to the height of the raised Talmage Avenue Bridge.
  2. Closure gates along Raritan are functionally complete – The gate closures across the New Jersey Transit railroad tracks on the western side of Bound Brook and at the South Main Street railroad underpass that leads to Queens Bridge have been completed and are used to keep flood waters out of Bound Brook.
  3. The new Talmadge Avenue Bridge that connects Bound Brook and Bridgewater, New Jersey is functionally complete. The replacement bridge was built to the height of the R2 Levee to prevent Middle Brook and Raritan River waters from entering Bound Brook from the west.
  4. 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. [3]

Finderne Wetlands mitigation project

The Finderne Wetlands mitigation project [4] (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.

Sebrings Bridge

A roadway bridge called the Sebrings Bridge, which crosses the Green Brook and links Sebrings Mills Road and Greenbrook Road in the respective towns of Green Brook and Middlesex, was replaced in 2012 as part of the Green Brook Flood Control project. [5] 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 2014 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.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raritan River</span> Major river in the U.S. state of New Jersey

The Raritan River is a river of the U.S. state of New Jersey. Its watershed drains much of the central region of the state, emptying into the Raritan Bay near Staten Island on the Atlantic Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old River Control Structure</span> Floodgate system in Louisiana, USA

The Old River Control Structure is a floodgate system in a branch of the Mississippi River in central Louisiana. It regulates the flow of water from the Mississippi into the Atchafalaya River, thereby preventing the Mississippi River from changing course. Completed in 1963, the complex was built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in a side channel of the Mississippi known as "Old River", between the Mississippi's current channel and the Atchafalaya Basin, a former channel of the Mississippi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbert Hoover Dike</span> Dike around Lake Okeechobee, Florida, US

The Herbert Hoover Dike is a dike around the waters of Lake Okeechobee in Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Millstone River</span> Tributary of the Raritan River in New Jersey, United States

The Millstone River is a 38.6-mile-long (62.1 km) tributary of the Raritan River in central New Jersey in the United States.

Green Brook is a tributary of the Raritan River in central New Jersey in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bonnet Carré Spillway</span> Flood control operation in the Lower Mississippi Valley, US

The Bonnet Carré Spillway is a flood control operation in the Lower Mississippi Valley. Located in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana, about 12 miles (19 km) west of New Orleans, it allows floodwaters from the Mississippi River to flow into Lake Pontchartrain and thence into the Gulf of Mexico. The spillway was constructed between 1929 and 1931, following the Great Mississippi Flood of 1927, and has been designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atchafalaya Basin</span> Largest wetland and swamp in the United States

The Atchafalaya Basin, or Atchafalaya Swamp, is the largest wetland and swamp in the United States. Located in south central Louisiana, it is a combination of wetlands and river delta area where the Atchafalaya River and the Gulf of Mexico converge. The river stretches from near Simmesport in the north through parts of eight parishes to the Morgan City southern area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gavins Point Dam</span> Dam in Nebraska and Yankton County, South Dakota.

Gavins Point Dam is a 1.9-mile-long (3 km) embankment rolled-earth and chalk-fill dam which spans the Missouri River and impounds Lewis and Clark Lake. The dam joins Cedar County, Nebraska with Yankton County, South Dakota a distance of 811.1 river miles (1,305 km) upstream of St. Louis, Missouri, where the river joins the Mississippi River. The dam and hydroelectric power plant were constructed as the Gavins Point Project from 1952 to 1957 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers as part of the Pick-Sloan Plan. The dam is located approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) west or upstream of Yankton, South Dakota.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River engineering</span> Study of human intervention in the course, characteristics, or flow of rivers

River engineering is a discipline of civil engineering which studies human intervention in the course, characteristics, or flow of a river with the intention of producing some defined benefit. People have intervened in the natural course and behaviour of rivers since before recorded history—to manage the water resources, to protect against flooding, or to make passage along or across rivers easier. Since the Yuan Dynasty and Ancient Roman times, rivers have been used as a source of hydropower. From the late 20th century, the practice of river engineering has responded to environmental concerns broader than immediate human benefit. Some river engineering projects have focused exclusively on the restoration or protection of natural characteristics and habitats.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morganza Spillway</span> Flood-control structure in Louisiana, U.S.

The Morganza Spillway or Morganza Control Structure is a flood-control structure in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is located along the western bank of the Lower Mississippi River at river mile 280, near Morganza in Pointe Coupee Parish. The spillway stands between the Mississippi and the Morganza Floodway, which leads to the Atchafalaya Basin and the Atchafalaya River in south-central Louisiana. Its purpose is to divert water from the Mississippi River during major flood events by flooding the Atchafalaya Basin, including the Atchafalaya River and the Atchafalaya Swamp. The spillway and adjacent levees also help prevent the Mississippi from changing its present course through the major port cities of Baton Rouge and New Orleans to a new course down the Atchafalaya River to the Gulf of Mexico. The Morganza Spillway, operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was opened during the 1973 and 2011 Mississippi River floods.

The United States Army Corps of Engineers is involved with a wide spectrum of public works projects: environmental protection, water supply, recreation, flood damage and reduction, beach nourishment, homeland security, military construction, and support to other Governmental agencies. Through 19 Flood Control Acts since 1917, Congress has authorized the Corps of Engineers to be involved with flood protection and damage reduction in almost every state of the union.

The Water Resources Development Act of 1999, Pub. L. 106–53 (text)(PDF), was enacted by Congress of the United States on August 17, 1999. Most of the provisions of WRDA 1999 are administered by the United States Army Corps of Engineers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Van Veghten's Bridge</span> Bridge in New Jersey and Manville, New Jersey

Van Veghten's Bridge is a bridge spanning the Raritan River in Somerset County, New Jersey, connecting the Finderne section of Bridgewater with Manville. The bridge carries four lanes of Somerset County Route 533 across the river and the flood plain. In Manville the roadway is called North Main Street. In Bridgewater, it becomes Finderne Avenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flood management</span> Methods for reducing detrimental effects of flood waters

Flood management describes methods used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters. Flooding can be caused by a mix of both natural processes, such as extreme weather upstream, and human changes to waterbodies and runoff. Flood management methods can be either of the structural type and of the non-structural type. Structural methods hold back floodwaters physically, while non-structural methods do not. Building hard infrastructure to prevent flooding, such as flood walls, is effective at managing flooding. However, it is best practice within landscape engineering to rely more on soft infrastructure and natural systems, such as marshes and flood plains, for handling the increase in water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles River Natural Valley Storage Area</span> Protected area in Massachusetts

The Charles River Natural Valley Storage Area comprises over 8,000 acres (3,200 ha) of protected land in the middle and upper watershed of the Charles River in eastern Massachusetts in the United States. The lands were acquired by the United States Army Corps of Engineers and are managed by the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife. The project's field office is located at West Hill Dam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">West Atchafalaya Floodway</span>

The West Atchafalaya Floodway is a flood control structure of the Mississippi River and Tributaries Project located in the Lower Atchafalaya Basin in south-central Louisiana. It has a project design flood flow capacity of 250,000 cu ft/s (7,100 m3/s).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Stone Arch Bridge (Bound Brook, New Jersey)</span> United States historic place

The Old Stone Arch Bridge is a bridge located in Bound Brook, New Jersey, United States. It is the second-oldest extant bridge in the US, after the Frankford Avenue Bridge over Pennypack Creek in North Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Built in 1731, it is the oldest bridge in New Jersey. It spans the Green Brook and connects Bound Brook with Middlesex Borough in northern central New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Effects of Hurricane Floyd in New Jersey</span>

Hurricane Floyd in 1999 was the costliest natural disaster in New Jersey's history, until it was surpassed by Hurricane Irene in 2011. Damage in the state totaled $250 million (1999 USD), much of it in Somerset and Bergen counties. Seven people died in New Jersey during Floyd's passage – six due to drowning, and one in a traffic accident. A police lieutenant took his life after coordinating floodwater rescues for nearly 48 hours.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fargo-Moorhead Area Diversion Project</span> Flood control project on the Red River in the US

The Fargo-Moorhead (FM) Area Diversion project, officially known as the Fargo-Moorhead Metropolitan Area Diversion Flood Risk Management Project, is a large, regional flood control infrastructure project on the Red River of the North, which forms the border between North Dakota and Minnesota and flows north to Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada.

The Passaic River Coalition (PRC) is an organization based out of Willow Hall in Morristown, New Jersey. The coalition is an urban watershed association active since 1969 in protecting water quality and quantity of the entire Passaic River watershed of northern New Jersey and Rockland and Orange Counties, New York.

References

  1. US Army Corps of Engineers New York District: GREEN BROOK SUB BASIN, NJ Archived 2003-08-20 at the Wayback Machine , accessed May 10, 2006.
  2. Eugene Paik (August 29, 2011). "Flood waters cover Bound Brook as smell of oil is in the air" . Retrieved August 31, 2011.
  3. February Meeting Minutes [ permanent dead link ]
  4. Finderne Wetlands Mitigation Project
  5. "Montana Construction Inc. | Heavy Construction | Greenbrook - Sebrings Mills Road Bridge Reconstruction NJ Flood Reduction for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers". Archived from the original on 2021-05-16. Retrieved 2020-11-26.