Dennis Road Pumps Can’t Cope with Rain

Next to the Dennis Road bridge replacement project, it rained two inches last night.

The two pumps are next to the rushing creek.

Saturday morning the water rushing from the Lake in the Hills Dam overwhelmed the pumps designed to keep the construction site dry enough to install concrete.

A fuel truck was pumping liquid energy into the pumps’ tank.

One of the two pumps was down, but there was no way with two pumps the water could be kept from flowing through the three culverts.

One of two neighbors between the stream and Algonquin Road believed that the coffer dam was going to lead to their homes being flooded.  The man on the job disagreed.

The replacement plan entails continuing to use the same culverts, but installing concrete facings on both sides of the bridge.

No support can be seen except one rock between these two culverts.

The reason is that earth and rocks around the culverts washed away causing the bridge to fail.

Erosion is visible between these two culverts, too.

Since McHenry County Blog’s first report two days ago on the Dennis Road project, there has been additional erosion between the culverts.

Saturday there was surface evidence of erosion between a second of the three culverts.

The August 1st completion date isn’t looking good because of the recent rains, the construction supervisor said.


Comments

Dennis Road Pumps Can’t Cope with Rain — 16 Comments

  1. The erosion around the culverts is merely the symptom.

    The problem is that the culvert pipes constrict the stream flow, creating a dam effect.

    That is why the rest of the country is moving away from culvert pipes to box culverts and bottomless arch culverts that are as wide as the streambed.

    The repairs might last 10 years if we are lucky.

  2. Thank you for the advice regarding the best way to allow water to flow under a bridge…except that would require the bridge to be removed. Please correct me if I am mistaken.

    Sounds like a great plan for future installs.

    I thought maybe they could install rip-rap contained in a wire mesh basket to resist erosion for this particular repair…but I am not a bridge guy.

  3. Ok but our highway commissioner said that he didn’t want to do it the fast way

    He wanted to do it right the first time.

    So if that is the case wouldn’t he put the box culvert in so that this doesn’t have to be repaired in 10 years?

    Also this bridge has lasted over 50 years.

    Should we not look for something that will last that long again?

    Also the crews really need to start clearing the down trees throughout that stream

    It has been taken care of in the past but now under current people it seems like it is not

  4. I am not a bridge engineer, but I assume that a box culvert would have to be installed before the bridge could be installed.

    Now all one can do is patch it up.

    If there is an engineer in the audience I would benefit hearing their opinion.

    I LOVE to be proven wrong…sometimes!

  5. If the pumps can’t cope, just imagine what the homeowners in here feel like.

    Find another way and fix the the bridge, 34.75 days and counting!

  6. Box culvert would be the better deal.

    Once a new box culvert is on site it’s only one day to remove the old, use a crane to set the new, and back fill for vehicle traffic to uae.

    Another day to install rap on both ends, and if the base is compacted properly another day to pave.

    Doing it the right way is the most expensive option, yet the best option.

  7. I called Andrew about the box culvert alternative and he suggests anyone who would like to discuss the situation should call him at the highway department, 847-639-2700.

    The major problem is that getting a permit for a box culvert takes about six months, while approval to fix the bridge with the existing culverts can be granted under an emergency provision of the regulations.

    If you don’t think I am conveying the information correctly, please call him.

  8. Thanks Cal, before I bother the dept. with a crazy idea I would like input from someone who might evaluate this ‘farmer fix’.

    I propose driving a galvinized steel I beam between the culverts solidly in the ground then welding or bolting a steel plate cut to the curvature of the existing culvert. A rubber seal made from an sidewall of a truck tire could be added to help prevent water from leaking around the plate.

    Just an idea from a concerned citizen, please feel free to rip this idea to shreds if you have a better one! I have not been out there to actually see if this might work, so I might be just oversimplifying the repair.

  9. Considering it’s a failed emergency thing, Army Core, DNR, should speedup the process.
    The culverts only restrict high flow, changing to a box culver with the same capacity shouldn’t be a issue.

  10. If we are talking temp fix, rip the road surface off, fill the voids, add rap to both ends, and then open the road. No sense putting concrete in.
    A temporary surface could be installed before winter if needed.

  11. This isn’t about a game of messing with you Luv.
    This is trying to get the best job done once for the residents that live there at the best value.
    Go away Gadfly.

  12. Just a thought: Washington D.C. was a swampy stinking cesspool (I know – some things never change) with the constant flooding from the Potomac until the WPA built the Tidal Basin.

  13. The pond in Cary by 14 at w Main was a CCC project.

    Part of FDR’s socialism in the 1930s.

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