Parisi shows welcome creativity and care at sensitive Gilmore site

Parisi Construction recently began work resurfacing Gilmore St, between Monroe and Gregory.  Contractor Report is very pleased to note this company's creativity and diligence in erosion control.

Note large check dams, long gravel pad, clean street/gutters on left.

View from Monroe St up Gilmore.

This is a sensitive site, because it's steep, close to Lake Wingra, and has runoff entering from outside, from Cross and Gregory streets.

We appreciate these measures that go beyond the minimum

• Large check dams, holding large stones together with wire cages (called gabions)
• Silt sock in one of the gravel pads; gravel pads of regulation length
• Thorough cleaning of the street, using water plus a bobcat
• Sand compacted with a roller on the disturbed side of the street.
• Parisi responded within hours to requested improvements

Nevertheless, one concern remains:  The catch basins (pits in the street) at the bottom of the hill are almost certainly too small for all the runoff resulting from a big storm.*   The pits there may overflow, flushing much sediment onto Monroe St and into the stormwater inlets there.

Pit (catchment basin) in front of dam, at bottom of Gilmore.
The pit will quickly overflow; then water will flow around the dam.

Solutions exist to reduce the runoff going down the steep hill:

• Deflect clean runoff coming from Gregory Street, so it continues down Gregory
• Send some runoff from higher on Gilmore St into a temporary cloth catchment basin on the lower side of Cross St (where there's a stormwater inlet).
• There is also one stormwater inlet next to Wingra School which could accept some runoff from Gilmore St.  A temporary channel to that inlet would have to be built.

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*  Probably the pits will get larger as construction proceeds--as pipe is laid.  Still, the same solutions apply.  By deflecting and detaining runoff higher up, less runoff will come down the steep hill--meaning less erosion, less damage to the construction zone, and less cleanup.

More photos from 9/15.