Grand Rapids area 2013 flood

[pudgy]

I hear ya. But fortunately, most of the businesses are elevated from the road back there. It still comes down to not expecting as much water as we got.

[J T]

I saw a few businesses taking on water in the area on that Saturday. One person was wearing waders and rescuing as much stuff as possible from that sports complex on Sanford. A few loads of sand dumped on the bike path plugging up the "hole" in the levee would have prevented all the damage and lost revenue these businesses suffered.

[Raildudes dad]

The area JT refers to is between the outlets to Buck Creek and Plaster Creek on the Grand River. If the river is high, those creeks are high and the storm sewers back up further (higher) than normal. There are culverts under I-196. Again, high river backs water up higher east of I-196.

In GR within the flood wall zone, many of the storm sewers have 1-way flaps to keep the river from backing up past the walls. The ones I know about around the Road Commission worked

One other thing to keep in mind in the area east of the river, south of the floodwall in Grandville and Wyoming is the "soils" are a good grade of gravel. Those "lakes' in your map area were gravel pits. The gravel is very porus and when the river goes up, the lakes go up without any direct piped connection. The wet April had the ground water high already.

I have made the prediction that when natural gravel gets scarce enough, it will be worth someone's while to buy the existing older homes in Grandville & Wyoming Park, demolish the houses, mine the gravel, create some nice lakes and build condo's around the lakes.

The area could be floodproofed from culverts and storm sewers but the water table conection would be really expensive

[Saturnalia]

it is a 100-year flood...not an annual thing...

[trnwatcher]

The area JT refers to is between the outlets to Buck Creek and Plaster Creek on the Grand River. If the river is high, those creeks are high and the storm sewers back up further (higher) than normal. There are culverts under I-196. Again, high river backs water up higher east of I-196.

In GR within the flood wall zone, many of the storm sewers have 1-way flaps to keep the river from backing up past the walls. The ones I know about around the Road Commission worked

One other thing to keep in mind in the area east of the river, south of the floodwall in Grandville and Wyoming is the "soils" are a good grade of gravel. Those "lakes' in your map area were gravel pits. The gravel is very porus and when the river goes up, the lakes go up without any direct piped connection. The wet April had the ground water high already.

I have made the prediction that when natural gravel gets scarce enough, it will be worth someone's while to buy the existing older homes in Grandville & Wyoming Park, demolish the houses, mine the gravel, create some nice lakes and build condo's around the lakes.

The area could be floodproofed from culverts and storm sewers but the water table conection would be really expensive

Well said. This aarea also flooded some back in the 90's. Water never made it over Wilson north or Chicago Dr but it was up over the street west of Wilson. Also the natural drainage of most of Wyoming and Grandville is on these two creek watersheds, hence the positions of the two wastewater treatment plants.

[Raildudes dad]

Well said. This aarea also flooded some back in the 90's. Water never made it over Wilson north or Chicago Dr but it was up over the street west of Wilson. Also the natural drainage of most of Wyoming and Grandville is on these two creek watersheds, hence the positions of the two wastewater treatment plants.

I get a chuckle from the folks that complain about the location of the wastewater treatment plants ie next to the river. Must be they never heard the saying "sh@# rolls downhill". Well, it flows downhill too

[trnwatcher]

Very few castles where built in a valley, almost always on the hill top. Not only did it aid in the fortifications defense, it helped with the sanitation too!

[J T]

Very few castles where built in a valley, almost always on the hill top. Not only did it aid in the fortifications defense, it helped with the sanitation too!

You mean like this? Yet even with the water defense, King Arthur and Sir Lancelot managed to reach the castle without any issues.

[trnwatcher]

Very few castles where built in a valley, almost always on the hill top. Not only did it aid in the fortifications defense, it helped with the sanitation too!

You mean like this? Yet even with the water defense, King Arthur and Sir Lancelot managed to reach the castle without any issues.

But they didnt get in did they??

[J T]

No, but they DID make it to the castle...and then proceeded to "walk" back across that body of water. That scene always amazed me as a kid.

[Norm]

No, but they DID make it to the castle...and then proceeded to "walk" back across that body of water. That scene always amazed me as a kid.

Tide's out, dirt's in.

[J T]

A view from the eastbound I-196 overpass:

Just a little comparison shot post-flood, taken on May 12:

[Saturnalia]

I like how the whistle post functions as a high-water mark

[J T]

Had I a long train, I probably would have taken a wider perspective similar to the flood shot. But being that Amtrak is so short, I had to zoom in a bit to make it effective.

[Saturnalia]

I think we can finally close the book on the 2013 Grand River flood, because they finally removed the dumpster!

http://www.wzzm13.com/news/article/2617 ... from-river

[Y@]

What kind of city is GR? "Oh, there's a dumpster in our river, but we'll get it out at some point."

[Saturnalia]

What kind of city is GR? "Oh, there's a dumpster in our river, but we'll get it out at some point."

One that obviously didn't have a plan for getting a large dumpster out of the middle of a major river. Of course the city would probably do something a little more surgical (and expensive!) then wading out with buckets to bail out the water and debris to float it to shore.

In the end, at least it is gone before ArtPrize!

[J T]

What kind of city is GR? "Oh, there's a dumpster in our river, but we'll get it out at some point."

A city that probably had other priorities. Besides, many people probably viewed it as "art."

[trnwatcher]

What kind of city is GR? "Oh, there's a dumpster in our river, but we'll get it out at some point."

Of course the city would probably do something a little more surgical (and expensive!) then wading out with buckets to bail out the water and debris to float it to shore.

Yeah, funny that is how two West-siders actually got it out of the river....

http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/ ... er_default

[tsinoms]

What kind of city is GR? "Oh, there's a dumpster in our river, but we'll get it out at some point."

A city that probably had other priorities. Besides, many people probably viewed it as "art."

Shout out to all the hipsters out there.