Water Flows Improving in Truro Area

Department of Agriculture and Marketing staff responsible for maintaining the provincial dyke system are working on two projects to improve water flows during times of flooding in the Truro area.

"There have been a number of instances over the past couple of years in which flooding has caused some problems in the Truro area," said Ed Lorraine, Minister of Agriculture and Marketing. "The measures that we are taking this summer will greatly assist in relieving some of the buildup of water on the dykelands and therefore lessen the severity of future flooding."

Two of the three aboiteaux on the Truro Dykeland Park are being re-lined with high-density polyethylene pipe a metre (three feet) in diameter. To further improve water flows, a 1.2-metre (four-foot) diameter pipe is being placed above the first pipe. Aboiteaux are the gates that open and close to regulate the water flow through the dyke system.

Completion of these two projects will triple the capacity of each structure during flooding and are designed to remove large amounts of silt near the aboiteaux more rapidly than with just one pipe. In addition, if the bottom pipe is completely silted, flow through the upper pipe will cause the silt to be loosened so that the bottom pipe can also flow.

"These new structures won't prevent flooding of the marshlands," said Hank Kolstee, the department's supervisor of land protection who is overseeing the two projects. "But once the marsh has flooded, they will greatly improve the rate at which water will recede and reduce the amount of time Marshland Drive will be closed to traffic."

The structures are at the Ford Street Extension and near Highway 102. The two projects are expected to be completed by Monday, July 19, if there is no significant rainfall, which could delay work.