Westfield, MA – Tighe & Bond, with offices in Mass. and Conn., was presented the 2010 Water Resources Award byThe Connecticut Society of Civil Engineers (CSCE) for an innovative engineering achievement that has significantly reduced flooding in the neighborhood located downstream of Olmstead Pond in Norwalk, CT.
As part of a citywide drainage studies to address chronic flooding problems in Norwalk, Tighe & Bond recommended modifications to convert an existing manmade pond into a dry basin to increase its stormwater detention capacity. This solution was the most viable and cost-effective alternative to reduce the magnitude and frequency of flooding in the neighborhood.
According to Michael M. Yeosock, P.E., Senior Engineer for the Norwalk Department of Public Works, “This project appears to have worked well and has certainly helped to reduce flooding in the area. It was a difficult project to undertake, especially due to its impact on so many residential properties.”
Tighe & Bond engineering techniques included excavating the pond’s accumulated sediments, raising the embankment crest elevation, and providing a multi-level outlet control structure to regulate water discharges from the basin.
Tighe & Bond also used bioengineering restoration methods within the basin to establish a natural regime including the installation of the pilot stream channel with a sediment forebay at the headwaters, and a stilling basin at the outlet structure.