Rhino Linings Used in Restoration to Keep Streets and Basements Dry
Ontaria, Canada: A major Belleville Traffic Artery and Buildings at Less Risk of Flooding
By Luke Hendry, USA
Quinte Conservation is nearing completion of the $700,000 restoration of its flood wall between the Moira River and Cannifton Road.
The work is being done above the McLeod dam just north of College Street East. Quinte Conservation operates an electricity generating station at the dam.
Bryon Keene, Quinte Conservation’s water resources manager, said the result will be a long-lasting solution that will keep water where it should be: in the river.
“This is like a levee,” said Keene as he stood on the floodwall. “This will be really great flood protection.”
The PVC liner installed along the dam wall in 1978 had decayed and was damaged over the years, he said. That caused problems with a drain system in the headpond – the area where the water gathers before passing through the dam. Water has also been seeping through the liner.
Water made it into the basement of one Cannifton Road business in the spring of 2008, when there was widespread flooding in the Moira watershed and others.
Rod Bovay, Belleville’s acting director of engineering and development services, said the upgrade will put to rest the city’s concerns.
“There was some concern with some groundwater seeping and getting into the basements on the east side of Cannifton Road,” Bovay said, adding the city also wanted to ensure the busy street itself wouldn’t be affected by flooding.
The city and conservation authority have always worked well together, Bovay said, and for about two years had been working together on the issues.
He said the changes mean Quinte Conservation and the city – and therefore residents – will be satisfied.
“They’ll be able to keep the pond at the level they need but hopefully we won’t have any impact on the properties on the east side,” said Bovay. “We’re happy to see it get done.”
Keene said the new design should protect public and private property even from high waters of a so-called “100-year flood.”
Once completed it will look merely like a rocky slope, but he new system will be a big improvement, Keene said.
“We feel it’s going to give us a whole lot longer (floodwall) life,” said Keene.
A fabric lining is placed in a shallow trench, then sprayed with a polyurea coating. Gravel and later larger stones will be layered above that.
“It’s not going to harm the environment because it’s 100% solids. It’s not easily biodegradable,” said Ron LoPresto, technical director for manufacturer Rhino Linings.
The lining is manufactured by Rhino Linings Corp. Technical director Ron LoPresto said the installation is similar to lining “a gigantic truck bed” 1,030 feet in length. Jim and Shari Sauer’s Trenton company – currently nameless after a shift in focus – was applying the polyurea Wednesday.
LoPresto said the lining should last for a few decades. “The minimum would be 20 years,” said LoPresto.
Keene said the hope is for a 40-year lifespan.”From here on it’ll just be annual maintenance,” he said.
The restoration is to conclude in the first week of September; the water level will be raised gradually, reaching its usual level by mid-September. Keene said energy generation will resume at about the same time.