Drainage work spills over into fall

by Joe King

Ongoing improvements to Watson Creek, particularly near Cole Hall, will make getting across campus a bit of a challenge until late October. The work, part of an $8.5 million upgrade to the campus storm drainage system, got underway last fall and, despite appearances, is nearing completion. The best news for now is that roadwork which disrupted traffic on Normal Road and Carroll Avenue (to allow for the installation of new storm sewers) is complete, said project manager Patti Perkins of the Division of Finance and Facilities.

Construction crews work to install box culverts in Watson Creek near Carroll Avenue as part of the ongoing drainage improvement project.

"Nobody should have to put up with any more roads being dug up; that was our priority this summer," she said. "Other than that, however, we are at a frustrating juncture. A substantial amount of work has been completed, but few things are totally finished."

For instance, she says, the major work on the East Lagoon (dredging, restoration of islands, installation of new bridges) has been finished for months. However, a spring deluge washed away plantings and was followed by a very dry summer, which made it virtually impossible to complete landscaping around the pond. If the weather cooperates, new plantings should be established in time for the fence to come down by the Oct. 19 Homecoming football game.

By that time new footbridges also should be in place across Watson Creek, Perkins said.

In all, three new bridges will be installed. All will be more attractive than their predecessors and allow greater quantities of water to flow through. One bridge is located near Carroll Avenue, a second leads from the Visitor's Parking Lot to the Stevens Building and a third will be installed between Cole and Neptune Halls.

That third bridge will be the most dramatic. It actually will be comprised of a set of semi-circular bridges which, when combined with some ornamental stonework and brick paving, will create a sort of circular plaza around the creek, with a small fountain in the center. The appearance will echo that of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Commons just to the east, a look that will be extended to the west side of the stream where a small plaza will be constructed outside of the east doors of Cole Hall.

"The final effect will be quite beautiful, and well worth the effort," Perkins said. "Our goal is to have all of that work as complete as possible by Homecoming, too."

In the meantime, crews also will be working on the final phase of the drainage project, which is cleaning up and re-contouring the banks of the creek. The goal of that work is to increase the capacity of the stream to avoid overflows, which in past years have resulted in expensive damage to Neptune Hall and other buildings. That work is to be finished before the onset of winter, Perkins said.

Another key component of the drainage work — expansion of the Lorusso Lagoon on the west side of campus — also is nearing completion. "We only need to remove a little more soil and put in the plantings, and the fences will come down shortly," Perkins said.

When all of the work is finished it should correct a long-standing drainage problem on campus. While the work is still incomplete, indications are that it will have the desired effect.

"We have had a couple of significant rain events this spring and summer and we have had no problems, so we are very hopeful that this project will successfully solve those problems," Perkins said.