Speedway Sand & Gravel continues violations at a new site: Segoe Rd.

Construction sites with several risk factors deserve special attention to erosion control.  Risk factors are sites with...

1. steep slopes
2. proximity to a waterway or lake
3. a lot of runoff entering from above.

The water main project on Segoe Rd is located over a large stormwater conduit to Lake Mendota via Willow Creek.   Segoe Rd. esentially follows a buried creek.  Located in a low point, much stormwater is funneled to this construction site from higher up on Segoe, and from side streets all along Segoe.  So it has two of the three risk factors.

Speedway Sand and Gravel (plus City engineers designing projects) continue to treat these risky sites with disinterest and neglect.

Speedway at work (Segoe & St. Croix, 9/9 11:11 am)

Given the risk factors, this site deserved speedy completion.  Yet progress has been slow.

So, during the heavy rains of 9/2 and 9/3, when it rained about an inch each day, it wasn't surprising that Segoe Rd flooded.

The most serious problem was the stormwater inlets located within the median of Segoe Rd.  Most of the median is slightly concave, to serve as a channel for stormwater on the surface.  And much of it was devoid of grass cover.  So when it rained, great quantities of sediment washed down Segoe and towards the 19 inlets on the median.

Amazingly, none of these inlets had filters, and most had inadequate rings of silt sock around them.  Several had no protection whatsoever--a complete lapse.  While 5 of the median inlets seemed well-enough protected by silt socks, socks on the other 14 failed.  Some of the inlets were so buried in detritus and mud that Sherlock had to dig to find the inlets.

Stormwater inlet on median--buried in sediment

Since there were no dams or silt socks across the median to slow the floodwaters, the sediment became progressively worse further downhill along Segoe.  Meandering channels were carved into the freshly seeded median, and much sediment was dumped into the street gutters, where it clogged nearly all of the street stormwater inlets.  Clogged inlets caused water and sediment to flow further downhill beyond the site.
By Sept. 7, none of the blocked inlets had been maintained, cleaned, or corrected.   Inspection and maintenance is required within 24 hours.

Inspection reports could not be found on the City website.

Additional faults

The streets were very dirty.  Residents were angry about the dust, having to keep their windows closed.  There was evidence of sweeping with a bobcat on 9/7, but the sweeping was spotty and ineffective.   Concrete wastewater, plus dust control chemicals had been spilled on the street. 

Piles of gravel and dirt had no silt socks around them.  A few gravel check dams were made of unwashed gravel and appeared ineffective. 

Wastewater from concrete was dumped in several places.  It's highly alkaline, and can kill everything in the soil nearby.  More.

Due to sloppy back fill of excavations on the terraces, plus the rain, holes developed along the edge of the sidewalk in about 5 places.  Residents were concerned about pedestrian safety, and so were filling the holes themselves.

The whole construction area had a seedy, neglected, and dirty appearance. 




Mixed reviews for basins as a control measure

This site seems to have relied partly on the numerous holes in the pavement--which could act as temporary retention basins, confining water and sediment.  These holes in the pavement were not part of the erosion control plan--so perhaps they were just a happy coincidence.  Nevertheless, they weren't sufficient due to the large amount of stormwater entering from beyond the site.  Hence many of them probably overflowed, limiting their effectiveness.

See photos from 9/6 and 9/7.

Photos of 19 median stormwater inlets.  Only 5 of 19 did not fail--that is, receive significant sediment.

Update: City officials responsible for this site

Apparently Madison Water Utility was responsible, since this was a water main replacement (plus resurfacing and stormwater inlet replacement).

Permit authority: Tim Troester
(608) 267-1995
ttroester@cityofmadison.com

Permittee: Madison Water Utility
Adam Wiederhoeft
608-266-9121
awiederhoeft@madisonwater.org

Inspector: Harley Lemkuil
hlemkuil@cityofmadison.com  See reports

Speedway Staff responsible
Todd Timmerman (608) 575-1499 todd@speedwaysg.com
Josh Stieve (608) 836-1071 Josh@#speedwaysg.com