News : Area resident, State Senator say bridges may help prevent future flooding

Would a new bridge north of Vinton reduce future floods? Farmer, State Senator want to study idea.

Could a bridge or two be the solution to now-frequent Vinton flooding concerns?
A retired area farmer thinks so, and a State Senator agrees.
“Come with me,” says Roger Schlarbaum,” as I sat at McDonald’s on the Friday morning of the recent flood, adding photos of sand-baggers to my latest story. “I have a story idea for you.”
We get into Schlarbaum’s pick-up and head north, over the Cedar River. We drive toward the Izaak Walton area, and he points to the water rippling in the ditch to the west.
“Look at the difference,” he says. “The water on this side is higher than the water on the east side.”
Schlarbaum explains his observation: The elevated highway acts as a dam, keeping the river water from spreading to the lower ground on the other side of the water.
Then we drive past the place where the Flood of 2008 washed away the highway; Schlarbaum tells me that two or three times in his lifetime, water has washed away that part of the road.
“The river is telling us that it wants to go that way,” he says, adding that it’s time to listen to the river.
His solution: Building a bridge in that area, to allow water to flow around Vinton, to the north and east. His plan would include two bridges, a large one (up to 1,000 feet long) on Highway 150, and a smaller one on the High Road (58th Street, east of Highway 150).
Building those two bridges, he says, would cause much of the water now flowing into Vinton in the river channel to flow north and east, around the city limits, just north and east of the Vinton Country Club grounds. Filling those lowlands with water would significantly reduce flooding in Vinton, Schlarbaum claims.

Most of the land in that area is state-owned, so there would be little to no impact on other structures or land owners, says Schlarbaum.

So far, at least one public official thinks Schlarbaum’s suggestion is worth pursuing.
“The idea of relieving the river pressure in Vinton by allowing it to back flow to the north and around is an idea we needs to look at,” says State Senator Tim Kapucian, who represents Benton County in Des Moines.
Kapucian said he will begin by contacting the Iowa Department of Transportation, which has jurisdiction over Highway 150 and would have to build any structure there.
“I don't know what other government agencies would be involved, possibly the Army Corps of Engineers,” says Sen. Kapucian.
Schlarbaum has spoken of his idea to some other local leaders. He shared his thoughts during a meeting of city and county leaders who had gathered during this year’s flood.
Emergency Management Agency Director Scott Hansen said nobody can dispute Schlarbaum’s claim that the river naturally flows in the area where the highway washed away in 2008. But, he says, the question of how much a bridge would decrease flooding and change the water flow is something for hydrologists to study.
Benton County Engineer Myron Parizek said that while there has not been any previous discussion of how changing roads or adding bridges in Benton County would change the river flow and future flooding, some leaders in other areas discussed those ideas after the 2008 flood.
Another option is to replace the soil under the roads with culverts. That too, said Parizek, is something for water flow experts to evaluate.
Schlarbaum grew up in this area and remembers riding his bike on the road now known as the High Road before it was elevated. That road, he recalls, was frequently flooded. He does not expect his suggestion to take place any time soon, but says area residents and leaders should start discussing it now.

Benton County Supervisor Terry Hertle said he had not heard Schlarbaum's presentation but is willing to listen to any idea.
A major challenge would be funding; with more than 24,000 bridge structures in Iowa, and more than 4,000 for which it is responsible in Iowa, the DOT already faces a challenge of inspecting and updating those bridges – and the cost of doing so. Adding more bridges that do not meet a transportation-specific need at this time could be fiscally difficult and politically challenging.
But, says Schlarbaum, it could still be cheaper than repairing damage from future flooding.