Tentative approval given for stormwater drainage rehab in Dewey
The Dewey Beach Infrastructure Committee approved rehabilitation work on stormwater drainage systems on Bayard and Read avenues pending an on-site visit with engineers for further details.
Committee members raised several questions at the March 24 meeting, including whether a manhole on Read Avenue should be raised, and the rationale behind prioritizing Bayard and Read avenues when the condition of structures under other roads was unknown. Remington and Vernick Engineers were unable to access several areas because they were too deteriorated to inspect or were filled with water.
At the town commissioners’ Feb. 12 meeting, engineers said the assessment of infrastructure on Rodney, Read and McKinley streets from Route 1 to Rehoboth Bay, and from Swedes to Bellevue streets on the bayside along Bayard Avenue, showed most pipes need to be relined over the next several years. Remaining pipes must be replaced due to broken, corroded or collapsed structures, engineers said.
Stormwater structures including storm manholes, inlets, catch basins and pipes were verified and mapped, and pipes were cleaned and televised to document where water is collecting and not draining properly. Pipes that are candidates for relining were prioritized for work before their conditions deteriorate; relining pipes is much cheaper than removing and replacing them, engineers said.
The work to reline multiple storm sewer line sections, including cleaning, televising, plugging, bypass pumping and groundwater control, on Read Avenue would cost $154,000. Similar work on Bayard Avenue infrastructure would cost $48,000.
Up to two members of the infrastructure committee will meet with Remington and Vernick, Chair Jim Tyler said, and a meeting will be held after the on-site visit so members can vote to fully recommend the project to town commissioners. Commissioners would then vote on the issue, and a public hearing would be required to use funds in the town infrastructure account.
