Area flood cleanup costly

CELINA - Infrastructure damage and cleanup work from last week's flooding could cost Mercer and Auglaize counties more than $80,000.

Crews from the Auglaize County Engineer's Office this week are still using heavy equipment to remove corn fodder and other debris that washed from fields onto roads and ditches after more than 7 inches of rain fell in the area.

"We've hauled out 19 tandem dump truck loads of cornstalks from side ditches," said Gary Kuck, chief deputy of the engineering agency. "We have three crews doing that and we're not yet done."

He estimated it's already cost about $17,000 in cleanup expenses and likely will reach the $30,000 mark before the job is complete.

The northern half of Auglaize County was hit worse, Kuck said. Many roads - especially those near the Auglaize and St. Marys rivers - have been patched where portions of asphalt were washed away, and stone is still being replaced along others, he added.

"It's all over the county," he said, noting no particular area sustained the most damage.

Cleanup measures and the repair of damaged roads and bridges in Mercer County could cost up to $50,000, engineer Jim Wiechart said.

"It's really hard to quantify at this time," he added.

The most significant bridge damage appears to be on Slavik Road near Coldwater where part of the asphalt concrete pavement was stripped off the deck, he said.

Wiechart's staff also discovered a scour hole - a void created when sediment such as rock and sand are removed by quick-flowing water - on the southeast corner of the Slavik Road bridge.

"Our crews have partially repaired the damage and the road and bridge are now open," he said. "Placement of asphaltic concrete on that bridge deck will occur later."

Wiechart also reported damage to two other bridges - one on Menchhofer Road, west of Gause Road, and another on Burrville Road, south of Siegrist-Jutte Road - where the force of flowing water damaged the asphalt concrete surface but caused no structural damage.

"Both bridges are open but as our schedule allows with other priorities, we will repair the surface," he explained.

Mercer County crews removed 13 dump truck loads of wood, debris and logs from Frysinger Road, which crosses the St. Marys River, Wiechart said. The roadway and all others in the county have reopened, he said.

Wiechart said he received some inquiries related to personal property flooding blamed on a bridge constructed in 2002 on Coldwater Creek Road, south of Celina.

"There is an inaccurate perception that it is holding back water," he said.

The creek after receiving 6.5 inches of water overflowed its banks into the original Coldwater Creek Watershed and Burnt-wood Creek Watershed, heading north across St. Anthony Road, he said.

Wiechart said he and his staff visited the site at various times before and after last week's heavy rainfall. They used a telescopic level to observe and record the flow elevation on each end of the bridge and determined there was "no backwater created by the structure," he said.

"Thus, in no way did the bridge on Coldwater Creek create the flooding you experienced," Wiechart replied in an email to a local resident who accused the engineer of causing a relative's nearby home to flood because of the bridge.

Wiechart said the flooding would still have occurred if the bridge didn't exist and the creek had flowed through an open ditch.

"To find a possible solution to the flooding problems in the area, a full hydrologic and hydraulic study that replicates the conditions and reaches of the channel would need to be conducted," Wiechart said.

He and his staff believe the outflow elevation, channel geometrics and significant rainfall "were the biggest underlying factors" related to the flooding of properties nearby, he said.

Wiechart suggested increasing the levee elevation on the creek's banks and diking near individual properties with back-flow prevention to prevent future flooding.

No flood damage was reported to any state highways or bridges in Mercer and Auglaize counties, according to Ohio Department of Transportation spokeswoman Denise Heitkamp. Even the bridge in Coldwater along state Route 219, which was under water for several days showed no damage, she said.

"We're still cleaning up some debris from corn fodder and erosion but there was no damage to any of our roads or bridges," she said.

Inspections are complete on all state-owned infrastructure in both counties, she added.