A design firm is incorporating several features to prevent flood damage to a planned Riverfront development in downtown Columbus.
Naperville, Illinois-based Hitchcock Design Group is designing the Columbus Riverfront project, an $8.6 million conceptual plan calling for several overlooks of the East Fork White River downtown, connections to the People Trail system and an in-water recreation park.
While it is an area along the river where Columbus residents have been known to wade and fish from a sandbar or the shore, it is also an area that is known to flood during heavy rainfall.
The East Fork White River flooded 22 times last year in the area through Mill Race Park and between the Robert N. Stewart (Second Street) and Third Street bridges, where the Riverfront project is planned, said Heather Pope, the city’s redevelopment director.
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The Columbus area’s most serious flooding occurred in June 2008, when high water claimed three lives and caused $500 million in damage in Columbus and Bartholomew County.
More recently, the Riverfront project site was among areas that received high water April 3-6, when heavy rainfall caused many local rivers to crest and roads to flood, with some of the roads closing because of travel dangers. Bartholomew Consolidated School Corp. had students learn from home for the first time April 4-6 because of the flooding impacts.
In the Driftwood River, north of Columbus, the body of a 26-year-old kayaker was found April 6 between the Lowell and Tannehill bridges.
And on June 16, in an area just south of the Riverfront project, the body of a 6-year-old boy was found in the East Fork White River two days after he was swept away by strong current from the sandbar at Mill Race Park.
The incidents over the past few months have generated a number of inquiries from local residents on the Riverfront project and its viability.
Riverfront plans
Hitchcock Design Group is working on the Riverfront design, engineering and modeling for the concept, said Randy Royer, principal with the firm, which has an office in Indianapolis.
Designers are planning to use materials such as heavy concrete, natural stone and boulders that can withstand the rigors of floodwater, Royer said.
The materials are also being chosen as part of an overall design that would be low-maintenance for the city, and easy for city workers to clean up after any flooding, he said.
Columbus approved a contract in January with Hitchcock for up to $496,000 to create schematic drawings and conduct design development work for the project.
Geotechnical engineers and hydrologists have been hired to look at the effect the improvements will have on the river, Pope said.
The degree of work or cost required to clean up the site after flooding is not yet known, he said.
“That’s still being studied,” Royer said. “We’re actively looking at that to minimize maintenance. The idea is for it to be no more difficult than it is to clean up Mill Race (Park).”
The amount of time and the overall costs to clean up Mill Race Park after a flood depends on the situation, said Mark Jones, parks and recreation director for the city.
However, Jones said that typically involves cleaning up sand from bathrooms, picking up debris and trash and working to clear shelter houses in the park.
Approval process
The Riverfront project remains contingent on obtaining regulatory permits from state and federal agencies such as the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
“This project is going to be very highly scrutinized by the various agencies,” Royer said.
The city also wants to take out the low-head dam from the East Fork White River, which will also require approval from regulatory agencies as well. In doing so, that will affect the hydrodynamics of the water, which is also being evaluated as part of the project, Royer said.
Mayor Jim Lienhoop said he isn’t concerned about flooding in the proposed area, where the elevation will be similar to Mill Race Park.
Benefits of the project include the extension of the People Trail and stabilizing the banks on both sides of the river, he said.
“We want to provide a proactive response to the erosion,” Lienhoop said.
Royer said based on the way Hitchcock is working to develop the site, the project will protect the east and west banks from further erosion.
“Part of what we’ll be tasked with is to fix that condition,” Royer said. “Every time it floods, the soil is erodible. We’re looking at ways to help mitigate that.”
Lienhoop also said the city will evaluate and do as much as it can within the $8.6 million concept plan that has been presented.
“My preference will be (to) take our time,” he said.
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Hitchcock Design Group, based in Naperville, Illinois, will come back to the city during a public open house with several designs and cost estimates this summer. A date has not yet been scheduled.
Columbus hopes to pay for the project through a public/private partnership, tax increment financing funds from the city’s Central TIF District and grants that will be pursued, said Heather Pope, the city’s redevelopment director.
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