NANJING WANHUI NEW MATERIAL TECHNOLOGY CO.LTD

SAYREVILLE — Borough officials have a proposal under review with the state Department of Education to help address the flooding concerns of residents who live near the South River.

Borough Engineer Jay Cornell told the Borough Council last week that he submitted a letter sent to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) regarding plans to ease the flooding woes until the Army Corps of Engineers project initiates construction on a larger project years from now.

The plan, which officials devised with residents of the Weber Avenue area, calls for the construction of an $11 million sheet pile wall along the backs of their properties, Cornell said. A sheet pile wall is a steel retaining wall that is constructed of interlocking sheet piles, driven into the ground.

In March, a nor’easter storm caused the river to flood, impacting nearly 100 homes on Weber and MacArthur avenues. The streets are located along the bank of the South River near the Veterans Memorial Bridge. The water level rose within 15 minutes, causing hundreds of tons of wreckage and thousands of dollars worth of damage to the homes in the process. Though flooding has occurred in the area many times over the years, this was the worst since a 1992 nor’easter.

The Army Corps of Engineers has for many years been planning and designing a project to mitigate future flooding but is still a long way from construction, representatives told residents in May. The completion of levees on both the Sayreville and South River sides of the river and the construction of a storm gate near Veterans Memorial Bridge are not scheduled to be completed for another 10 years.

Residents, not satisfied with the wait period, have sought a quicker option. The letter sent to the DEP outlined how some steps could be undertaken to not only help with the flooding issue in the short term, but that will also work into the long-term Army Corps project.

Other issues that were addressed in the letter, Cornell said, deal with possibly securing credit to offset future Army Corps expenses, since the wall would be built in a way that could be incorporated into the Army Corps plan. The letter also touches on permits that would be needed for the borough to have the temporary wall constructed, and that the Army Corps may need at a later date.

Borough officials also want to know if they will be reimbursed by the DEP for costs associated with the retaining wall.

Cornell said he hopes to hear back from the DEP within the next few weeks. If the DEP agrees to reimburse the borough and also agrees to arrange for the necessary permits to be obtained, then the project would go before the Borough Council for approval. The council would then deliberate the project’s feasibility and funding issues.