City To Assess Earthen Dike Along Center Lake
January 24, 2017 at 7:49 p.m.
By David [email protected]
On Monday, the Warsaw Board of Public Works and Safety approved a proposal from Lawson-Fisher Associates for consulting engineering services related to the earthen dike on the northwest side of Center Lake. The cost of the study is $4,700.
According to a letter from Lawson-Fisher to City Engineer James Emans, “... the dike has existed for some number of years, but no design plans have been recovered that detais its origins. The current belief is that the dike is a result of spoils from the channel excavation, resulting in an earthen structure that has performed as a dike, yet lacks the qualities of an engineered and purposefully constructed flood deterrent.
“The dike is not on property owned by the city of Warsaw and will most likely, in time, fail due to a lack of proper maintenance. A failure will result in an emergency repair situation for protection of Center Lake. Before the city progresses down the path of acquiring the property and planning for any repairs or rehabilitation, it has requested a preliminary program budget based on known information.”
Wastewater Utility Manager Brian Davison told the board, “Basically, this is a proposal from Lawson-Fisher, who has already done some work in that area with the dam and our Osborne pump station.”
He said the dike helps protect Center Lake and the road when the Tippecanoe River floods. Davison said what’s there is not an engineered solution.
“There are concerns from residents in that area with trees growing in it. Eventually, we feel, that dike is going fail. The city doesn’t own that property. The (Indiana Department of Natural Resources) doesn’t want it because of what it is. There’s some questions as to ownership of the property. But before we take it over, I guess we want to know what will be involved in making it an engineered solution. And then I know there’s some interest from Building & Planning for making some walk/bike paths and maybe potentially using that area for that as well. This is just a study to see what kind of can of worms we might be opening,” Davison explained.
Mayor Joe Thallemer asked if the city has maintained the area over the years.
Emans replied the city was involved in some activities there with the IDNR and lake association.
“It’s called a dike and it does serve a purpose when the Tippy is flooded. Like Brian said, it’s not an engineered structure, and it has failed in the past,” Emans said.
This study will look at about a quarter of a mile of an area around the Center Lake dam. Items to be evaluated include side slopes adjacent to Miner Drive, condition of the adjacent Center Lake channel bank, condition of Tippecanoe River wetland adjacent to the dike, amount of existing vegetation on the dike and the general condition of the dike, according to the Lawson-Fisher letter.
“If we’re really going to protect Center Lake, and against flooding from the Tippy, we need to get the budget numbers of what that overall system looks like. It goes beyond just the earthen dike because down Miner Drive, the roadway itself is part of that protection system,” Emans said.
The 100-year flood elevation of the Tippecanoe River is higher than the flood elevation of Center Lake, he informed the board.
“So when we get a 100-year rain event, those two are different, and this quarter mile separates those. If that were to fail, and the Tippy water was allowed to come back, it could go as far as State Road 15 and inundate part of State Road 15,” Emans warned.
The study will give the city some budget numbers if it has to install an engineered protection.
“It isn’t the design, it’s more of just looking at what’s out there and what kind of a system might it look like to give us that level of protection,” Emans said. “Is it a combination of raising the roadway? Is it doing something with the earthen embankment? It isn’t finding the answers. It’s really to give us some ‘these are the type of things you could do to make it an engineered protection and this is what it’s probably going to cost.’”
Thallemer said the bigger question for him was who actually owned the dike. He asked if the city would take the dike over once it figures out what it’s doing with it.
“That’s a possibility,” Emans replied, but the study was just a first step.
City Planner Jeremy Skinner said this all came about after the city asked the DNR to make some improvements to it and the DNR said it didn’t own it. After some property research, he said it was learned that there’s a 10- to 20-foot strip of land out there that goes back to the original plat owner. It’s still in her name.
“Obviously, we’ve been looking at it for some time as a possible bike and pedestrian way to connect around our lakes. We continue to do so as we explore what that costs and protecting that embankment,” Skinner said.
On Monday, the Warsaw Board of Public Works and Safety approved a proposal from Lawson-Fisher Associates for consulting engineering services related to the earthen dike on the northwest side of Center Lake. The cost of the study is $4,700.
According to a letter from Lawson-Fisher to City Engineer James Emans, “... the dike has existed for some number of years, but no design plans have been recovered that detais its origins. The current belief is that the dike is a result of spoils from the channel excavation, resulting in an earthen structure that has performed as a dike, yet lacks the qualities of an engineered and purposefully constructed flood deterrent.
“The dike is not on property owned by the city of Warsaw and will most likely, in time, fail due to a lack of proper maintenance. A failure will result in an emergency repair situation for protection of Center Lake. Before the city progresses down the path of acquiring the property and planning for any repairs or rehabilitation, it has requested a preliminary program budget based on known information.”
Wastewater Utility Manager Brian Davison told the board, “Basically, this is a proposal from Lawson-Fisher, who has already done some work in that area with the dam and our Osborne pump station.”
He said the dike helps protect Center Lake and the road when the Tippecanoe River floods. Davison said what’s there is not an engineered solution.
“There are concerns from residents in that area with trees growing in it. Eventually, we feel, that dike is going fail. The city doesn’t own that property. The (Indiana Department of Natural Resources) doesn’t want it because of what it is. There’s some questions as to ownership of the property. But before we take it over, I guess we want to know what will be involved in making it an engineered solution. And then I know there’s some interest from Building & Planning for making some walk/bike paths and maybe potentially using that area for that as well. This is just a study to see what kind of can of worms we might be opening,” Davison explained.
Mayor Joe Thallemer asked if the city has maintained the area over the years.
Emans replied the city was involved in some activities there with the IDNR and lake association.
“It’s called a dike and it does serve a purpose when the Tippy is flooded. Like Brian said, it’s not an engineered structure, and it has failed in the past,” Emans said.
This study will look at about a quarter of a mile of an area around the Center Lake dam. Items to be evaluated include side slopes adjacent to Miner Drive, condition of the adjacent Center Lake channel bank, condition of Tippecanoe River wetland adjacent to the dike, amount of existing vegetation on the dike and the general condition of the dike, according to the Lawson-Fisher letter.
“If we’re really going to protect Center Lake, and against flooding from the Tippy, we need to get the budget numbers of what that overall system looks like. It goes beyond just the earthen dike because down Miner Drive, the roadway itself is part of that protection system,” Emans said.
The 100-year flood elevation of the Tippecanoe River is higher than the flood elevation of Center Lake, he informed the board.
“So when we get a 100-year rain event, those two are different, and this quarter mile separates those. If that were to fail, and the Tippy water was allowed to come back, it could go as far as State Road 15 and inundate part of State Road 15,” Emans warned.
The study will give the city some budget numbers if it has to install an engineered protection.
“It isn’t the design, it’s more of just looking at what’s out there and what kind of a system might it look like to give us that level of protection,” Emans said. “Is it a combination of raising the roadway? Is it doing something with the earthen embankment? It isn’t finding the answers. It’s really to give us some ‘these are the type of things you could do to make it an engineered protection and this is what it’s probably going to cost.’”
Thallemer said the bigger question for him was who actually owned the dike. He asked if the city would take the dike over once it figures out what it’s doing with it.
“That’s a possibility,” Emans replied, but the study was just a first step.
City Planner Jeremy Skinner said this all came about after the city asked the DNR to make some improvements to it and the DNR said it didn’t own it. After some property research, he said it was learned that there’s a 10- to 20-foot strip of land out there that goes back to the original plat owner. It’s still in her name.
“Obviously, we’ve been looking at it for some time as a possible bike and pedestrian way to connect around our lakes. We continue to do so as we explore what that costs and protecting that embankment,” Skinner said.
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