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Rains ~.~'=" -.7 ~~ s.e.....-h...Ji. damage Lena Gulch homes _ (.-/f-n Br Sharon HO"hines , Damage from hea\'y rains last week was not limited to Denver. Residents living along Lena Gulch near West 20th Avenue in Lakewood can attest to that. The rain, which actually brought the usually low water levels of Maple Grove Reservoir almost to over- flowing, washed out part 01 West 20th Avenue and flooded back yards and basemenls of nearby homes. Although part of West 20th Avenue has rl;"mained open at night, during the day the street was closed for repairs. The work was to have been finished this week. One resident. who asked that his name nol be used, claimed the water from the flooded gulch was the high- est he had ever seen it in the 25 years he has lived there. While rain in most parts of Lakewood was moderate, the homeowner said the downpour in the Applewood area "came down in sheets." Water rushed down the gulch, washing down with it a mass of broken limbs. leaves and trash, which then blocked the mouth of the five-foot culvert under 20th Avenue. A fence atop the culvert along the street caught additional debris as the water rose and addt'd to the "beaver dam." The water backed up, then spilled over onto the street, ripping away part of the road and the bank along the north side. The water crept up approximately 10 feet higher in one yard than it had during other floods. On the east side of the gulch, the water not only overflowed its Lena Gulch banks. but flooded over a service road and traveled approximately 4{) yards to cover one family's back lawn and come in their base- ment windows. Previous flooding had ('()nvinced Lakewood street crews to replace a four-foot pipe with the six-foot high, eight-foot wide arched pipe now in the culvert. which residents understood was to take care of the flooding. Although a slightly larger pipe is available to enlarge the culvert somewhat, Chris Jacobson, Lakewood street supervisor. does not believe that would do much good. Instead the city plans to install a "trash rack" up- stream to catch the debris as it comes down Lena Gulch and before it dams the culvert. Jacobson and crews also are looking at installing concrete wing walls at the opening of the culvert. which would increase the inlet's capacity. That work, at a cost of $5,000. is expected to be done next month. For now, street crews are simply repairing the caved.in bank and street above the culvert, for another 15.000, "" ,,, W _l ,-