SEDA-COG JRA helps fund flood protection project

Written by Mischa Wanek-Libman, editor
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The new flood closure structure for the railroad.
SEDA-COG JRA

A nearly $30-million flood management project that will protect one of the largest employers in Columbia County, Penn., was dedicated on Oct. 11.

SEDA-Council of Governments (SEDA-COG) managed the Columbia County Flood Risk Management project on behalf of the county and the SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority (JRA) also partnered with the county commissioners on this project by doing railroad work to accommodate the flood wall’s closure structure.

The mile-plus-long flood wall protects Autoneum North America Inc., which employs around 700 people and the former Windsor Foods site. The flood wall preserves the Windsor site for future use and it can be served by rail with flood protection.

North Shore Railroad (the JRA’s private railroad operator) delivers plastic products to Autoneum. The tracks pass through the levee, and as a result, a closure structure was required. When flood waters come, the flood wall gate must be closed to keep the water out. In order to accommodate the closure gate, a new concrete base, track and turnout (which switches trains to adjoining tracks) were moved in mid-January.

The area experienced a record flood during Hurricane Agnes in 1972 and since then, the area has flooded every five years on average, each time reaching about five feet above flood stage, on average. The flood wall is 4.5 feet above the 100-year flood height noted by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and is 1.5 feet above the Tropical Storm Lee flood level. Topical Storm Lee hit the area in 2011 where it dumped 10 inches of rain and the Susquehanna River crested at a record 32.7 feet.

Storage tracks were built inside the wall so rail cars can be protected from flooding. The roadbed of the North Shore Railroad west of Bloomsburg and outside of the new levee still remains exposed to the high velocity floodwaters of Fishing Creek. The last two storm events have resulted in hundreds of thousands of dollars of severe damage to the railroad tracks due to the roadbed being totally washed out in places. Plans are underway for a capital project to armor the roadbed with large riprap and install additional box culverts to mitigate any future flood damages.

The JRA awarded the $244,000 contract to Chesapeake Thermite Welding to do the work on the JRA’s track. The commissioners gave $57,500 for the track and turnout work and the JRA contributed the balance.

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