Culvert could be flood culprit
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Bouldin says he is aware of the problem, which developed during early spring rains, and plans to fix it.
The letter, from Jamie Gillespie of the engineering firm James & Associates, Inc., warns of potential problems with a 24-inch diameter culvert located at the newly constructed Progress Blvd. and Industrial Park Road.
Gillespie noted the culvert appears to be draining Garner Branch, which according to USGS quad map information, is a blue line stream, one that is significant enough to be shown on topographical maps of the area. The map also shows that Garner Branch has a drainage area of approximately 500 acres.
The problem first came to light during the flooding in February of this year when water backed up to within a few feet of the substation, prompting Caney Fork officials to take action to prevent possible damage and loss of power to the area.
Hubert King, general manager of Caney Fork Electric, said at one point the utility called for help to try to divert the rising water.
“The water actually backed up into our substation,” King said. “We had to get the Smartt Station Fire Department truck to pump the water across the railroad tracks.
“We were at the point where we were going to have to do something. The water was within about a foot of being up in our switching facilities and our transformer.”
King also said Caney Fork kept workers on site until the waters began to recede in case the substation had to be shut down.
When King was informed of the letter citing the possibility of an undersized culvert on the Bouldin property, he said he was unsure if the culvert had been the problem since Caney Fork had done no formal studies in the area.
“I don’t know why the water was backed up,” King said, “I don’t know if that was the problem. I just know in that particular instance, we did have a problem.”
When contacted, Bouldin said he had been informed of the problem by Richard Myers of the local emergency management agency.
“I am aware of it,” Bouldin said. “We’re going to go out there and fix the problem. They have informed me, and we are going to take care of it.”
Bouldin says he is going to remove the culvert and open the area back up to allow free flow of the stream. Bouldin also indicated he was unaware installing the culvert would cause a problem.
“I didn’t realize there was a stream there,” he said, “I thought it was just a dry drainage ditch.
“We didn’t know it would be a problem. If we had, we wouldn’t have done it.”