Flooding around the area (Huntsville, Fayette: apartments, neighborhoods, new construction)

[RocketDawg]

I live in Edgewater, and Zierdt Rd is closed from Edgewater Dr south to about the entrance to Colonial Grand apartments because of flooding. That means you can't leave Edgewater and turn south on Zierdt, nor can you leave Gate 7 heading north on Zierdt and go through without going through the neighborhoods.

Apparently the road is flooding because of the "wetland" (swamp) directly east of Zierdt where Edgewater Dr intersects. The new northbound lanes flooded a couple of weeks ago, but this time the origingal Zierdt is also flooded. Workers are out trying to pump the water out to make the road passable now, but I'm afraid this may be a continuing problem, even with the new construction. The northbound lanes take a bit of a dip adjacent to Lady Ann Lake, and that's where the water seems to be coming across.

Will this mean further delays in the Zierdt Rd project? I wouldn't be surprised.

[Coogan]

Originally Posted by RocketDawg

I live in Edgewater, and Zierdt Rd is closed from Edgewater Dr south to about the entrance to Colonial Grand apartments because of flooding. That means you can't leave Edgewater and turn south on Zierdt, nor can you leave Gate 7 heading north on Zierdt and go through without going through the neighborhoods.

Apparently the road is flooding because of the "wetland" (swamp) directly east of Zierdt where Edgewater Dr intersects. The new northbound lanes flooded a couple of weeks ago, but this time the origingal Zierdt is also flooded. Workers are out trying to pump the water out to make the road passable now, but I'm afraid this may be a continuing problem, even with the new construction. The northbound lanes take a bit of a dip adjacent to Lady Ann Lake, and that's where the water seems to be coming across.

Will this mean further delays in the Zierdt Rd project? I wouldn't be surprised.

I’m not sure if you can say it’ll delay a project that’s barely being worked on . But with the way things are going, I’ll bet they decide to tear that section of the new road up to alleviate future flooding, and it adds another 1-2 years to the timeline.

Also, howdy neighbor! I live just south of you!

[Teko03]

Back when the new north bound lanes flooded a couple weeks back, the city said they're working with Redstone to resolved the flooding issue. My guess is they're going to have to do some work behind the gates to probably expand Lake Lady Anne on Redstone...considering there is really nothing else than can be done to help on the Huntsville side of the fencing.

[csutton79]

WAAY's site shows Martin Rd. west of Zierdt was also closed as of 8:30pm Saturday. Just a heads up if anyone wanted to take that way as a detour. Hopefully everything will get cleared up before Monday

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by csutton79

WAAY's site shows Martin Rd. west of Zierdt was also closed as of 8:30pm Saturday. Just a heads up if anyone wanted to take that way as a detour. Hopefully everything will get cleared up before Monday

At least the rain appears to be over for a few days. My electronic rain gauge shows 3.5" since midnight; yesterday was 1.46". In the past week we've had close to 9", so there's no wonder we're having flooding. They got the forecast right on this one.

[chucksnee]

Originally Posted by RocketDawg

At least the rain appears to be over for a few days. My electronic rain gauge shows 3.5" since midnight; yesterday was 1.46". In the past week we've had close to 9", so there's no wonder we're having flooding. They got the forecast right on this one.

Is Zierdt still closed?

[RocketDawg]

Originally Posted by chucksnee

Is Zierdt still closed?

It was a couple hours ago. It's not the entire road ... just the part south of Edgewater Drive to about the entrance to Colonial Grand, basically just east of Lady Ann Lake. You just have to go through the Edgewater neighborhood, turn left on Nature's Way and reenter Zierdt at the light. Of course, if Martin Rd is closed west of Gate 7 then it would really only be useful for local traffic.

[harry chickpea]

The Elk river watershed has been particularly affected by this set of storms. Many of the heaviest bands of rain sat right on top of it.

My rain amounts for the first three day of heavy rain were 7", the next two days 6.25, and yesterday was about 1.25" With the dam up around Fayetteville releasing 8 million gal/min I wouldn't be surprised if the Marbut Bed area of Hwy 99 remains flooded for a while.

I shudder to think what the flooding would have been like without the TVA and dams.

[harry chickpea]

Marbut Bend of the Elk River on Highway 99 Sunday Feb 24. The guys had kayaked from their place on Dupree Hollow Road down to Patterson Hill Road.

I am impressed by the engineering that went into the bridges over the Elk on 99 and Easter Ferry Road. Each road has two bridges within yards of each other. The normal flow of the river is easily contained and flows under just one bridge of the two. At flood stage, the river starts to flow under both spans. As the river continues to rise, the embankments of the road leading to the bridges become a dam, where only the water that can fit through the two openings can flow on downstream.

That design stops the surges of flow that would generate a real "flash" flood - without resorting to a dedicated dam! The pools in the floodplain fields upstream of the bridges act as giant retention ponds that are constantly releasing water at a more measured rate.

The end effect of this on the downstream river, such as in this picture, is that there is still flooding, but that the height of the flood waters becomes limited, reducing property damage. The trade-off is that the duration of the high water is longer.

The two bridge and embankment design is not limited to this area. Seeing it work under stress makes me give a big thumbs up to the guys who figured out and implemented the cost-effective design where roadways are integral to flood control efforts.

[Southlander]

Edgewater (the name!) is extremely close to the Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge, which is a refuge because most of it is quite swampy and low (and thus attracts wildlife). While it's lovely to live close to water, you have to remember that it CAN and WILL rise when the river rises....which is rather rare and controlled. Usually.