The first phase of the China Creek project inched closer to completion last week during a stretch of dry weather that allowed crews to resume working near Little Hanaford Road.
The first phase of the China Creek project inched closer to completion last week during a stretch of dry weather that allowed crews to resume working near Little Hanaford Road.
The first phase of the China Creek project inched closer to completion last week during a stretch of dry weather that allowed crews to resume working near Little Hanaford Road.
Though it may be hard to recall as snow begins to fall in Centralia and across Lewis County, the ground stayed mostly dry for all but one day between Jan. 28 and Feb. 7.
Workers from Kelso-based C & R Tractor and Landscaping used that period to complete much of the work needed to finish the first phase of a project to better gird China Creek against seasonal flooding.
The creek bed near Little Hanaford Road has been reshaped to better control water flow and has held up well during heavy rains that caused overflow from the creek to pool in designated areas out in the field instead of flooding roads near and within downtown Centralia.
Total cost for the first phase of China Creek came to about $2.1 million. The city recently returned $500,000 of funds allotted for the project back to the Chehalis Basin Flood Authority.
“We’ve had a couple of opportunities to see it in action,” said Kim Ashmore, Public Works Director for the city of Centralia. “All in all, I think it’s working as designed and I believe it’s going to hold back the water. We’ll continue to see how well it works during the next few winters.”
The ongoing cold snap has limited the amount of time workers can spend on China Creek. Ashmore said the snow forecasted to blanket the region during the next few days will also impact the timeframe in which everything should be completed.
“There’s very little of the main channel left to shape where they had to lower the water line,” Ashmore said. “There’s one larger log dam to build and a few smaller, wooden dams to place like debris. The only thing after those are done is to finish hydroseeding, and probably 80 percent of that is already done.”
Ashmore plans to lead a group of city and county stakeholders on a tour of the completed Phase I sometime during the first week or two of March.
He will also take them down to where Phase II will commence in 2020. City staff will spend much of 2019 securing permits and project designs for increasing the water storage capabilities of the Agnew Mill Ponds near Gold Street.
The two phases of the China Creek project will be interwoven to mitigate localized flooding out of the creek and hopefully reduce the amount of sandbags needed to keep downtown Centralia dry each year.
“Both projects will really go hand in hand to benefit businesses, residents and streets downtown,” Ashmore said. “
