The rehabilitation of the Glade Run Flood Protection Project was up for discussion last week. Mark Malach and Shane Erdman of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection were in Warren to give a presentation to the Warren City Council and Glade Township residents.

The project first came about in October 1956 when the City of Warren signed a sponsorship agreement for a Unit 1 Channel Paving Project. That project, which included channel paving, channel improvements, and the installation of a stilling basin was concluded in August of 1957. The City of Warren then signed on to a Unit 2 Channel and Levee Project in August 1959. That project, finished in October 1960, included construction of a levee, channel improvements, a concrete channel, and levee drainage structures.

The project held steady until February of 2001 when the Pennsylvania DEP indicated that the project was in need of repair. The state authorized $3 million for the rehabilitation project in June 2004. A rehabilitation report that took a decade was completed in October 2014, and new sponsorship agreements and rights-of way acquisition drawings were sent to the City of Warren in February of this year.

“The original project functioned well for many years,” Malach said. “Some of the pipes used are not structurally sound anymore, they are rusted out in a lot of places.”

Malach said the proposed new project is a large-scale one.

“It’s a good size for the type of projects we do. I believe it’s 6.67 square miles total. The levee is not approved by FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) standards anymore. We want to make sure it meets FEMA criteria so it can be certified.”

The new rehabilitation project is contingent on the City of Warren accepting the agreements. Flood control projects are authorized and funded by the commonwealth.

There is no federal funding. The Project Sponsor, the City of Warren in this case, also contributes. If the plan is accepted, the City will have several responsibilities during the project, including providing the DEP with $15,000 in performance security and establish and deposit $5,000 into a maintenance escrow account.

The project would see the following features:

¯ Replace nine existing levee drainage structures with reinforced concrete pipe and concrete inlets and outlets with flap gates.

¯ Place stone along the top of the levee for ease of maintenance.

¯ Construct levee access ramps for maintenance access.

¯ Repair levee riprap slope protection.

¯ Grade the levee where needed.

¯ Construct a roller gate closure structure across Cobham Park Road to replace the obsolete sandbag closure.

¯ Perform shotcrete repairs to the concrete channel downstream of Route 6.

¯ Repair and/or replace existing barricades and chain link fences.

The potential project would see actual construction begin in June 2019 and end in May 2021. The contract bid advertisement would be posted in March of 2019.

If the City of Warren executes the sponsorship agreement, the DEP will then hire a surveyor to prepare easement drafts. The DEP will also finalize construction drawings and obtain all permits and other necessary approvals to allow construction to begin.

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