Engineering Report Confirms Residents’ Concerns About Effects of Neighborhood Flooding

A professional engineer has reported that the effects of repeated flooding, “can be structurally compromising,” of a home in the neighborhood to the southwest of CCSU that includes, Newbury, Hampton, Allen, Brighton and Stewart streets and Eton Place and Roxbury Road.

Residents in the neighborhood have been seeking action by the city to address long-standing drainage problems that many have been noted to be getting worse, with development in the area and the effects of climate change.

In the report, obtained confidentially by the New Britain Progressive, the engineer told an area family that their home’s their foundation walls and slab have cracks. In addition, the engineer said, “The right wall of the foundation has a noticeable outward tilt when viewing from inside the basement.” While the tilt appears to be minor, the engineer noted, “it is unclear when the movement started.”

The engineer’s report appeared to clearly point to the cause. Noting that, “The area around the house has a well documented history of severe flooding during heavy rain events.” The engineer added that, “The movement of water in and around the foundation can cause erosion of the supporting soil near the foundation.”

“The fact that the right wall has the tilting and other walls do not, coincide with the flowing water along the right wall,” the engineer said.

After pressure from area residents in September last year, the City Council approved funding for a project to improve the drainage infrastructure in the neighborhood. But reluctance by city officials to do the project has left residents concerned that it could be delayed years more, or not done at all. Residents have noted that the project has been waiting for decades and that, “The infrastructure project has been postponed for the last six fiscal years.”

Residents of the neighborhood have compared “shiny” taxpayer-funded construction projects, done with local taxpayer resources in recent years, like the Beehive Bridge on Main Street, to basic infrastructure improvements, like drainage in their neighborhoods, that have been made a lower priority to those projects.

The newly elected Democratic majority on the Council, whose Majority Leader is a resident of the neighborhood, Ald. John McNamara (D-4), has made storm water infrastructure improvements in the city a priority in the new Council term, saying, they want to, “put storm water system upgrades at the top of the capital improvement list and to accelerate green infrastructure practices to sustain homes and neighborhoods.”

For area residents, the recent engineering report confirms their sense of urgency.

“The surface flood water needs to be controlled in order to stop the further progression of movement in the foundation,” the engineer said of the city residents’ home. “The long term effects can be structurally compromising to the foundation and structure above.”