Mitigation in New Hampshire
Mitigation Dollars Help Drain Away Recurring Road Problems
New Hampshire communities spend a major portion of their tax dollars on roads.
Maintaining roads during normal weather cycles can take a toll on workers and budgets, but major rainstorms like the 2006 Mother's Day storm and 2007 April nor'easter often add the additional hardships of road washouts and public safety hazards.
The first priority in road maintenance is to get water away from the road. Water weakens materials during normal rainfall and destroys roads when swollen streams smash through roads with inadequate culverts or poorly engineered drainage systems.
Proper drainage is a fundamental building block of a good road. And good design is basic to getting that proper drainage.
In the rebuilding phase after washouts, road managers can employ proven strategies to improve drainage and build stronger roads that will lessen the damage from future storms. After a devastating storm, parts or all of a state may be designated for federal disaster assistance. This makes available Public Assistance funding to help communities repair damaged roads, bridges and public buildings to pre-disaster conditions. Public Assistance applicants may be eligible for additional funds under the 406 Mitigation Program to pay for mitigation measures that include road and culvert upgrades at the site of the damage.
The 406 Mitigation program assisted the small communities of New Durham and Newmarket to alleviate repetitive road washouts by providing grants for the installation of larger culverts. Subsequent storms have tested the mitigation measures and the roads have remained passable during and after the storms.
Langs Lane Fix Prevents Washout in Nor'easter
"Langs Lane was damaged in '96 and '98 and in 2006 it totally washed the entire road away," said Rick Malasky, Newmarket Public Works Department director and fire chief. "So we decided it was time to fix the problem."
The solution to the reoccurring problem was to replace the culvert with a larger one. The crew installed a larger, 48-inch culvert and provided additional shoulder protection to prevent erosion. The mitigation measures added $3,885 to the cost of the project, bringing the total price tag to $25,401.
Malasky said the road remained open for emergency vehicle traffic through the pounding of the April 2007 nor'easter. "If we wouldn't have fixed the culvert the road would have washed out again. And we would have had two to three 12-hour days of work to make it passable."
Upgrading Failing Culverts to Avoid Future Road Washouts
In May 2006, severe storms and flooding from the Mother's Day Storm left gaping holes in several roads in New Durham. The town used FEMA funding and its own funds to repair and mitigate three separate sites on Quaker Road and another on Drew Road. The mitigation projects that followed included installing new, larger culverts and adding an additional culvert to one of the sites. All the culvert upgrades proved effective in handling the water flow during the 2007 spring flood event.
Mark Fuller, road agent for the New Durham Highway Department, said "Last year we were down to one lane on Quaker Road for a week. This year we were back to normal in a few hours."
The four mitigation sites have demonstrated the value of using proven techniques in rebuilding smarter and thus sustaining the roads' usability following a major flood event. As of July 2007, benefits in avoided damages were estimated to be $3,000 to 6,000.
Last Modified: Tuesday, 26-Feb-2008 16:37:42 EST