2003-08-28_REVISION - M2000113 (2)

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E R O 5 1 O N & S E D I M ENT C O N T R O L Wichita's I®TeW Channel Prevents Flooclin~ RoyJ. Nelsen, Manager ofTechntcal Services WATER diversion systems and a levee protect much of Wichita, Kansas, From flooding of the Arkansas and little Arkansas Rivers. When the dry expedences heavy rains and thun- derstorms, certain areas are subJect to sedous flooding. This was especially true of the populated resldendal area along East Tttird Street North, where some of the more severe flows occurred. Far decades, Third Street North had.CNCn.v~rvlllYe[se.f~~nrtinn< Ifnot only cazded traffic, but also carried stormwater runoff. The maJodty of the time, the water consisted of a low flow of about 2 to 10 cubic feet per second, Periodically, though, the drainage channel would run full and dose Third Street North including almost all the cross streets to traffic. In too many instances, the drainage problems at Third Street North seated emergency situations and stranded motorists who had to be.rescued from the Flooding. As a result, the potential for an accident where a drowning may occur was always a concern for the city, The contract to plan a new drainage system for Third Street North was awarded to ~ Mtd-Kansas Engineering Consultants, Inc. (MKEC), a Wichita-based firm with years of drainage design experience, and Golsen Livingston Architects, a local -atchitecturaL~lrtr~ _with_landscape expertlse. They presented the city with a number of options and design alternatives far the three-quarters of a .mile long project. These plans were discussed !n numerous city and neigh- borhood meetings, where public input was sought. 'The street's combined function was unacceptable,' states Neil jednoralskl, Water Resources Engineer at MKEC. "In order far Third Stree[ to have remained open to traffic, Its sur- face would have had to be raised to fit the incoming streets and a storm sewer would need to be installed to handle the upstream drainage area." Those oqt o s. filleluded a ~,•',~ choice o~',: s one-lined channel, S;tu. roc;partially- ~, lined co . b " ce? c `annel, a crass-lin' _ a~inel or with a g~Cs-lirjed pilot channel. , i, .: ~.~ I[ was eventually determined that the street could not be raised, due to an abundance of underground utlli- ties, especially the sanitary sewer, and stlll install a storm sewer to handle the runoff. It was decided that the most effective design would he to close Third Street North to all through and cross-traffic, and turn it into a drainage channel. 'We provided many different canal design options to the dry,' says Jednoralskt. 'Those options included a choice of a stone-lined channel, a full or pazdally-fined concrete chan- nel, agrass-lined channel or one that was grass-lined with agabion-lined pllot channel. The last option was chosen based on a tluee step level decLsion process; economic, perform- ance and aesthetics.' The design called for a composite channel liner system that incorporated gabion reinforced tiprap (rocks in steel cages) in the bottom area and vegetation reinforced with North November/December 2002 Iand sad Wata After wnstruction of We evnerate and gabion Iinad low now channel, rha side slopes of efe main channel were gradsd, seedatl, and permanently protected with a eomposite•rurt reinforcement matting.