Province announces $2.4 million for new Tantramar River aboiteau
The province of New Brunswick has announced $2.4 million in funding for the replacement of the aboiteau that empties into the Tantramar River.
Tantramar engineer Jon Eppell says the news is “very positive… This will facilitate phase 3 of the Lorne Street Stormwater Mitigation project and allow discharge of that stormwater effectively to the river.” The project will see a retention pond created near Fleet Street, along with channels connecting it to the St. James Street pond and draining into the Tantramar River when tide levels allow.
Project engineer Pierre Plourde told Sackville town council last July that the current aboiteau built in the 1900’s was too small for the task.
The aboiteau replacement is one of 73 projects funded by the province’s Climate Change Fund. A total of $47 million was committed to the fund in this year’s provincial budget, however the estimated total for projects announced last week is $10 million higher, at $57 million. In a news release the department of environment and local government said it expects enough projects to come in under budget to make up for the $10 million gap.
Eppell says he is waiting to hear on the timeline for the construction of the project, which will be done by the department of transportation and infrastructure.… Continue
Updated: Stormwater project approved without pedestrian bridge, trees, or promise of a new aboiteau
NOTE: Updated Wednesday, February 15, 2023 to reflect a decision by Tantramar council.
The province of New Brunswick says it has not committed to replacing an aboiteau that would play a key role in draining a multi-million floodwater system slated to be completed in Sackville by the end of this year.
The engineer heading up the final phase of the Lorne Street Floodwater Mitigation project was in Sackville town hall on Monday to give Tantramar council an overview of the project.
At their meeting on Tuesday, Council awarded a contract to Beale and Inch Construction worth just over $5 million to complete the project, which involves digging a third retention pond on the far side of Charles Street, and channeling water under roads and the CN rail line out to the Tantramar River. That’s where the water would flow out through an aboiteau owned by the province, which lets fresh water flow out into the river, but blocks tidal water from flowing in.
Unlike the last time he appeared before council, project lead Pierre Plourde of Englobe Engineering seemed confident that the replacement of the aboiteau was not a dealbreaker for the project to work.
“Our stormwater strategy is somewhat dependent on that aboiteau, but not entirely,” Plourde told council Monday. “What will happen when the aboiteau is upgraded in the future, it will allow the water to move faster within the system.… Continue
Lorne Street Phase III approved for funding
The third phase of the Lorne Street Floodwater Mitigation project is now approved for funding from the federal and provincial governments.
The agenda package for Monday’s Sackville town council meeting includes discussion of a letter from New Brunswick’s Regional Development Corporation informing the town that just over $4 million in funding towards the project has been approved.
The province is contributing just over $1.8 million, and the federal government is chipping in just under $2.2 million. The town of Sackville share of the project is slightly under $1.5 million.
Plans for Phase III of the flood mitigation project include two new stormwater retention ponds, one in the old Pickard Quarry, and one behind the community gardens on Charles Street. These two ponds would more than double the storage capacity for freshwater in the town, which should be enough to accommodate rainfall from a one-in-100-year storm.
The project also includes about a kilometre of ditching to help drain the Charles Street pond into the Tantramar River when the tide allows.
What’s not included are new aboiteaux to help drain stormwater into the Tantramar River. That will require further cooperation from the provincial government, this time the Department of Transportation and Infrastructure, which owns and operates the aboiteaux along the Tantramar River.… Continue
Isolated flooding and a full retention pond during Thursday storm
In a single storm last Thursday, more rain fell in Sackville than in the entire month of August combined. According to Environment Canada, Sackville saw 81.6 mm of rain on Thursday, September 2. The heavy rain filled the town’s new retention pond, had sewage pumping stations working at capacity, and caused isolated flooding at spots throughout town.
Town engineer Dwayne Acton says that overall, town infrastructure fared well, but that might have to do with some lucky timing in terms of the tide cycle. “During the heat of the storm we were somewhat on low tide,” says Acton. But if the worst of the storm had come at high tide, “we might have seen a different story.”
“We had some very intense times throughout the storm,” says Acton. “The retention pond did a fantastic job in holding the water that was coming down to Lorne Street.” But Acton points out that despite the storm not hitting one-in-100-year levels, “the pond was basically at the brim.”
The pond did overflow onto St. James Street at one point in the storm, and the pathway along St. James was flooded as well.… Continue