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Success: Tideflex Check Valves Key to Success in Lowell Neighborhood

In the spring of 2006 the huge winter snow fall melted and started down the Merrimack River from northern New Hampshire. The river runs due south through Manchester, Merrimack, and Nashua, New Hampshire and then crosses the border into Massachusetts. Once in Massachusetts the river turns easterly and flows towards the Atlantic Ocean. This last leg of the trip takes the water through Lowell, Massachusetts.

The Rosemont Section of Lowell has low and moderate housing. It's a traditional blue collar working class neighborhood. The problem with Rosemont is….. it's a lot like the Lower 9th ward of New Orleans. While it is not always below the river, it is close. For a week or two in April of 2006 the river put approximately 8 feet of water in the street, driving about 25 families from their homes. The storm pipes from the entire hill side carry water down to the Rosemont 60" storm water outfall pipe. When the river is high the water has no place to go, so it just stays right there in Rosemont.


NE3 had done extensive flow metering work with the City of Lowell and now it was time to deal with this flooding issue. Mike Stuer, Collections Manager, called a meeting to discuss a resolution to this issue. At the meeting were Bob Mack of NE3, John Harper of CDM and Mike Stuer of Lowell. We met at the corner of Sparks and Rosemont where the 60" pipe coming down Sparks, carrying the bulk of the water, merges with the smaller 18" Rosemont pipe. All of this flows through the 60" pipe into the Merrimack River. All of us knew the Tideflex Check Valves would be the key to a successful resolution. The other component was "readiness" and some really large portable pumps.

The spring of 2007 was very similar to the previous year. The Merrimack River was high and getting higher. However, this year would be different. The City of Lowell was ready. They brought out the big pumps, closed off some streets, and put the Beaver Brook flood wall in place. There is a tremendous sense of satisfaction seeing how this plan was put into place and the substantial impact it had on the lives of the people in the Rosemont section of Lowell.

Following is April 18 correspondence regarding the huge success of the project.

April 18th Email to Mike Stuer
Mike, My guess is you are busy. Very, very, very busy. When you get a chance, please let me know how the Tideflex's are working.

It will be sunny and 60 on Sunday.

Take care,

Bob Mack


April 18th Email from Mike Stuer
Bob, Below is an email that went out yesterday, with photos of the area that was severely affected by the May 2006 Flood. The same area was threatened again by high river levels the past three days. This time, we protected the neighborhood with good planning, the right equipment, and a lot of hard work. As of now, the river is receding and the threat appears to be over. Although we cannot see the Tideflex valves, we know they did their job (one is underwater in the second picture, right in front of the line of rocks to the left of the telephone pole). This neighborhood would have experienced serious flooding without the valves.

Although Beaver Brook has submerged the Martin St Bridge, the Rosemont Terrace neighborhood is still relatively dry. A levee has been constructed on the western side of the Martin St Bridge. The flood wall on the eastern bank has been erected. So far, the Tideflex valves and the flood pump are doing exactly what they are intended to do. The valves are keeping the river / brook from backing up into the drainage systems, and the pump is dewatering the drain lines that cannot empty by gravity because of high river levels.

Meanwhile, the brook is still rising. There is only a foot or so of freeboard on the western bank of Beaver Brook, along Alma and Lafayette Streets. Cross your fingers that the brook crests soon...

It's great to see our work making a difference for this Lowell neighborhood. Thanks for your role in this success story.

Mike Stuer




The old pipes are dug up.
  


The completed valve vault protects the street from flooding.


Beaver Brook Feeds into the Merrimac River. Readiness and a solid containment system was key.
  


The city got funding from FEMA to purchase the valves and the pumps.
  


Here is one of many other valves Lowell has since purchased.



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