The good news is the new complex under construction which is now underwater is only dirt work.?ÿ
The bad news is the area has no real flood plain study except for a Zone A.
The even worse news is that there is a little shed onsite that is the location of an official gaging station that I had to locate to see if it's on the property. ?ÿ
My client in semi-arid West Texas was complaining about the extensive erosion control he was required to install. He said the idiots at the city probably trained in Dallas and all the silt fencing, hay bales and stuff wasn't needed "out here". It's been a record wet season this year. The drainage swale that was installed to carry away his and his adjoiner's runoff was poorly designed and his whole project is underwater. That was a nerve wracking phone call because I set all the grading stakes. Everything was staked as designed, he admits. It was just an inadequate design.
Arid country can produce some amazing floods. I figure that experienced engineers can save clients lots of money. The old engineering saying that the most important item in design is where does the water go, the second most important is where does the water go, the third, the forth, and so on, all the same.
Contractors/clients always seem to complain about sediment and erosion measures (ie. cost, maintaining, etc.).
Definitely a case of "penny wise, pound foolish."?ÿ In the London, ON area we recently had an example of such.?ÿ Contractor had just laid all the Granular 'B' and part of the Granular 'A' for a road recon.?ÿ Weekend was coming up so the straw bales, silt fence, etc. "could wait."?ÿ Flash thunderstorm on the weekend.?ÿ Significant damage to the road base.
So who's footing the bill?
?ÿ
They're still working that one out.
