Date: Fri 13-Mar-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDYG

Quick Words:

weather-flooding-Pootatuck

Full Text:

Wild Water In The Glen

(with cuts)

BY ANDREW GOROSKO

A concrete retaining wall next to a Pootatuck River dam in Sandy Hook cracked

into three pieces Monday following heavy rains and high water, forcing the

evacuation of offices housed in two old mills alongside the raging river.

Sandy Hook Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company Chief Bill Halstead said Monday

firefighters received a call at 9:42 am alerting them that a retaining wall

next to a dam at the mill at 27 Glen Road had broken, causing an embankment

between the river and a parking lot to wash away.

For the next six hours, firefighters, town public works crew, police and

others worked to prevent a tragedy. No injuries were reported in the incident.

Emergency workers toiled amid white-capped waves, buffeting winds and a

driving rain.

The retaining wall had been situated along the eastern shore of the river,

downstream of the dam and perpendicular to it.

The wall extended along the river's shore from the dam to the mill at 27 Glen

Mill Road, where Shorewood Fine Art Reproductions, Inc, is located.

The retaining wall was approximately 50 feet long, 25 feet tall, and about 12

to 18 inches thick, Chief Halstead said. The wall appeared to be poured

concrete, and not reinforced with metal bars, he said. Also, the retaining

wall lacked drain holes to relieve pressure on it. Force behind the retaining

wall pushed it over.

The wall apparently wasn't attached to the dam, but was simply butted up to

it, the chief said.

After the wall crumbled, it fell into three sections, one of which rested

against the front face the dam and two of which fell into the river.

As a precautionary measure, emergency officials ordered the evacuation of both

27 Glen Road and Rocky Glen Mill at 75 Glen Road, which is about one-half mile

downriver.

Both evacuations took place in an orderly manner.

Second Dam

There is a second, larger dam on the Pootatuck, just upriver of Rocky Glen

Mill. Water flowed over that structure at very high rates as office workers

evacuated the large Italianate building that houses a variety of businesses

and an antiques center. More than 100 workers left that building.

Before the evacuation of Rocky Glen Mill, office workers had been parking

their vehicles at successively higher levels of the elaborate parking lot.

Also, residents of River Edge Drive were warned that they might have to

evacuate their homes, but no evacuation was needed, the chief said.

River Edge Drive is a residential dead-end street extending off Walnut Tree

Hill Road. The street is alongside the Pootatuck River, downriver of Rocky

Glen Mill.

To fill the breach created by the disintegrated retaining wall, firefighters

and public works crews brought in large amounts of earthen materials, pouring

them into the gap that had been created by the retaining wall's collapse.

The placement of sandbags and rocks stabilized conditions. Irregularly shaped

broken stones were placed in the area that formerly held the retaining wall.

Firefighters were concerned that the failed retaining wall might have

jeopardized the structural integrity of the old brick mill at 27 Glen Road,

Chief Halstead said. The southwest corner of that building lies at the river's

edge.

DEP Expert

Chuck Berger, director of the inland water resources unit of the state

Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), Tuesday credited the town for

its rapid action to stabilize the area.

DEP dam inspectors probably will return to the scene next week to check

conditions, Mr Berger said. DEP inspectors arrived at the scene at about 12:30

pm Monday after being called in by the town.

Mr Berger said the concrete retaining wall that failed provided no structural

support to the dam, but stabilized the edge of a parking lot, forming a border

between the lot and the river. The wall had retained earthen fill beneath the

parking lot.

The retaining wall's disintegration did not affect the structural integrity of

the dam, Mr Berger said. Mr Berger said there is no current physical threat to

the dam or to 27 Glen Road.

Dams such as the one just upriver of 27 Glen Road no longer serve any

industrial purpose, Mr Berger said, noting they essentially have only

aesthetic value.

As long as the area remains stable and river turbidity does not become a

problem, it will be left up to the applicable property owner and the town's

Conservation Commission to decide what to do about permanently correcting

conditions at the site, according to Mr Berger.

It was fortunate that Monday's heavy rains did not create worse water problems

throughout the state, Mr Berger said.