Flooding in Suburban Acres

Hello Suburban Acres resident! Along with the new year, the Division of Environmental Storm Water has created a new newsletter, just for your Civic League, as an easy way for you to stay updated and informed on the progress of the City's proposed plan to upgrade the drainage system in the Galveston/Brickby neighborhood.

Interested members of the Suburban Parkway Civic League are welcome to join this mailing list. Updates will be sent out quarterly to keep you informed of the project's progress. Anyone who is interested is welcomed to join this mailing list. It will only be used to send out updates on this project.

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This newsletter is not a venue for City of Norfolk services requests.
Service requests can be placed through Norfolk Cares at:
www.norfolk.gov/norfolkcares
757-664-6510
healthyneighborhoods@norfolk.gov

Drainage Pipes Inspected Between 7304 & 7308 Galveston Blvd

Drainage Pipe Inspection

After the Suburban Acres Civic League Meeting on November 13, 2023, a Storm Water Engineering Technician inspected the drainage pipes between 7304 and 7308 Galveston Blvd. The area inspected can be seen in the photo above.

The drainage system in this area consists of a 12-inch plastic corrugated pipe, which connects to a yard inlet and a 18-inch concrete pipe, all oriented to drain to the curb inlet along Galveston Rd. The technician ran a camera through the underground pipes in order to verify the components of the drainage system, the condition of the system, and to explore any faults in the system. The inspection findings: “There is a slight curve to the line, but nothing blocking the flow. Pipes are clean and no roots preventing flow.” The inspection confirms that currently there are no complete failures or no major damage to the system.

During the inspection, the technician noted that the ponding water takes 4-5 hours to drain, per a resident's comment. Although this may seem like a long time for water to drain, the standard for normal drainage time in the City of Norfolk is a 24 to 48-hour period.

Inside the drainage pipe showing standing water

Standing Water in Pipes

Although there are no blockages or failures, from this latest inspection and the noted standing water in the existing conditions survey from last year, it is evident there is a standing water issue in the drainage network. This standing water is a symptom of an inadequate drainage system. The standing water starts at the bottom of the drainage system at the outfall location and then goes up to the 12-inch corrugated pipe. The standing water reduces the capacity of the drainage network to efficiently carry the runoff downstream to the creek. A larger pipe or bringing back the ditch between the houses would only result in a half-full pipe or ditch. Standing water in a ditch in the summer is a breeding zone for mosquitoes. This is not something anyone wants to deal with.

As explained during the November 2023 civic league meeting, Storm Water has been working on a design to repair the outfall location and channel to adequately move the water downstream. The standing water will remain in the drainage network and the 4-5 hour drain time will continue to be the norm, until the outfall issue can be addressed.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to Civil Engineer III, C.W. Gaskill, P.E. at cw.gaskill@norfolk.gov or 757-823-4006.