Town works together to fix flooding problem
by  SCOTT SHANLEY
Posted: 2007-07-12

Keansburg is shaped like a dish.

At least that’s how Department of Public Works Superintendent Dennis O’Keefe described the town. It houses over 10,000 Bayshore residents in addition to 5,000 daily visitors within a radius of one square mile. The outskirts of the town sit at approximately sea level. The inner portion receives its bowl-like formation due to its close proximity to the nearby Raritan Bay.

However, along with the borough’s unique topography comes a problem — chronic flooding.

Although the conflict is not uncommon to the neighboring towns of the region, O’Keefe said it is an important matter that must be brought to light immediately.

“We are at the mercy of the tide here in Keansburg because the town holds the rain water,” he said. “The main problem is the absence of pump stations that would pump storm water into the bay during flooding emergencies.”

Along with help from the Borough Council, the Keansburg Department of Public Works is hoping to wipe away flooding for good in Keansburg by installing pump stations at all six bay outfalls located in the area.

One of the primary difficulties arise from a valve chamber box that storm lines eventually pour into shortly before reaching the bay. The unit contains a built-in flapper valve that closes during high tide, which prevents water from entering the storm basin system.

“When it rains during high tide the water remains on the streets until the tide goes back out,” he said. “We’re holding all this water until the tide rescinds.”

O’Keefe said the stations would vastly help alleviate flooding before it has a chance to spread by pumping excess water back into the bay.

“This is a priority project,” he said. “It is so important that [the Borough Council] granted engineering approval to formulate a conceptual design with associated costs.”

The pump station would cost between $300,000 and $1 million depending upon the selected design. T&M Associates, an engineering firm based out of Middletown, had previously estimated each unit to cost approximately $7.5 million. But those units are excessive for the needs of Keansburg, O’Keefe said.

“A single station in the $300,000 range should be designed and installed immediately,” he said. “We should not wait until a major disaster to react.”

Keansburg is certainly no stranger to experiencing severe storm damage. Nearly 75 percent of the town’s structures received significant damage during Hurricane Donna in 1961. The borough’s excursion pier as well as several tourist landmarks were destroyed as a result of the storm. A berm, or artificial shield, was later constructed during the mid 1960s to prevent the town from suffering any further abuse. While the berm has begun to deplete over the course of following decades, it still serves as the borough’s sole source of protection from the Raritan Bay.

Deputy Mayor Drew Murray said restoring the pump station had been among the current Borough Council’s top priorities in recent years. He hopes they will ultimately help to relieve the town of further flooding conflicts in the near future.

“When we took office those pump stations had been neglected and that’s a fact,” he said. “We’re doing the best we can to make improvements. These are the things that people are asking to get done so we’re working on that number one.”

A town connected

O’Keefe said that in order to acknowledge how flooding ultimately affects the town, one must first understand that most of the town is connected beneath the streets.

“It is important to understand that the protective infrastructure of the borough is all tied together,” he said. “The sidewalks and driveways are all connected to the streets.”

According to the superintendent, storm basins are installed along each curb that run under the roadways. There are currently 600 basins located throughout the borough that empty into eight different major outfalls in the Raritan Bay. Further, 15 smaller outfalls are released into Waackaack Creek.

O’Keefe said the continuous reconstruction of roads throughout the town will help to further enhance flood control. According to him, the Borough Council has been instrumental in being able to ensure the proper improvements are made.

According to Borough Manager Terence Wall, over 21 roads throughout the town have been upgraded since 2004. Several grants have also led to complete reconstruction of the bulkhead on Creek Rd. and Seeley Ave. A bicycle path spanning from Pineview Ave. to Raritan Ave. was also recently finished. According to O’Keefe, there are nine more projects that are approved for construction by the governing body in the near future. They include improvements to Leroy Pl., Linton Pl., Poplar St., Horner Pl., Vogel St., Twilight Ave., Hancock St., Frazee Pl. and Highland Blvd.

“This is the largest road improvement project Keansburg has seen in any one period throughout its history,” Wall said. “With direction from the mayor and Borough Council, the entire borough is undergoing a broad revitalization. It will benefit all members of the community.”

Murray added that further upgrades to the town’s streets would help to boost Keansburg onto a road where perhaps some residents may have never seen it before.

“Everybody is working together to bring this town to where it needs to be,” he concluded. “There’s much more to be done, but it certainly won’t happen overnight.”

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