Culverts can be culprits in flooding
John Henderer, The Chronicle, 7/1/97
TOLEDO - Bert and Hazel Oberg have learned one thing: If heavy rains threaten, they don't leave cows any more in their field near Jackson Highway.
The Obergs fear having to pack out calves during the middle of the night as they did a couple years ago.
"We never put them out in the middle of the night. We just don't dare," Hazel Oberg said.
The nearby Cowlitz River is not the problem. The menace to the Obergs' field is a steep, unnamed creek that runs through a culvert just north of Ray Road and under Jackson Highway.
The culvert plugs with debris and stormwater during heavy rains, diverting water onto the highway and into their field.
The flooding creates a hazard and has caused accidents on the roadway, the Obergs said.
The original culvert, dating back to the 1920s, routed stormwater under the highway for years. It was replaced with a culvert about 36 inches in diameter in the early 1980s.
That one proved too small and for about six years caused headaches for the Obergs and motorists. During floods, the creek plugs the culvert and turns south, digging a ditch along the highway to the Oberg property, spewing rocks all over their field. The roadside channel has washed out a driveway to the Obergs' field a half dozen times or more, Berg Oberg said.
Last year, the county paid Tunnel Systems of Woodinville $74,900 to install a 54-inch steel culvert adjacent to the smaller one.
But once again, the creek flooded the Oberg field. The new culvert also redirects the creek, cutting a new channel, Hazel Oberg said.
"It's apparently not satisfactory," said County Commissioner Glenn Aldrich. "I thought we had it solved last July."
The rerouted stream has reportedly drawn concerns from the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, but an official handling the affair did not return calls for comment.
Roughly 1,500 feet upstream of Jackson Highway, a larger culvert funnels the creek under Salmon Creek Road. Hazel Oberg said it makes no sense to have a smaller culvert downstream from a larger one.
Lewis County officials are responding to concerns and plan to replace the 54-inch culvert with a larger one in hopes this will solve the vexing problem.
"We could probably just fix that one pipe that's in there, but since we keep getting this debris coming in down there we're going to try for a fix-all, once and for all," said Don Dickerson, county engineering services manager.
The county plans to install an oval-shaped "pipe arch" that should be about as large as an 8-foot pipe, Dickerson said. County officials are working to obtain permits from authorities regulating the stream before putting the project out to bid.
County officials hope to finish the work this year.
"I would hope we can get it done before the next flood season, but I want to get it right," Aldrich said.
The Obergs expressed frustration with the county's response to the problem.
"It's a disgrace to Lewis County, being such a nice county to live in," Hazel Oberg said. "The way they've handled this, the way they've worked with us - it's disgusting after a while. This has been going on for over six years."