The Worthington City Council, during a mere 15-minute meeting on Monday night, approved a task order with the engineering firm Bolton and Menk to provide design service to repair a section of the Olson Park trail that washed out during last month’s heavy rains.
During the unusually heavy rain event, a section of the trail near the campground and adjacent to Whiskey Ditch was washed out. This portion of the trail is currently closed and inaccessible to pedestrians. The area where the washout occurred had an intake and outfall designed to catch runoff water and direct it to the ditch. but the excessive rainfall in a short period -- combined with an unstable slope -- caused surface water to overflow the trail and erode the slope from the top.
During a brief discussion on the matter, councilman Chad Cummings indicated that similar work was authorized by the council between a year and a year and a half ago. He asked if the new work to be done will be the same as done in the recent past, or if adjustments would be made,
City Engineer Hyunmyeong Goo replied that the city will likely upsize the intake and pipe size and control the low point toward that intake. He added that where the washout took place, the pipes were only six to eight inches wide. The city is now looking at least a 24-inch pipe to handle water flow. Additionally, more rip rap is planned, creating a protective bank.
Other than the consent agenda, the task order for the Olson Park Trail was the lone business item on Monday’s agenda. Worthington City Administrator Steve Robinson also reported during the meeting that two city trucks, a loader and six public works employees were heading to Windom on Wednesday to help pick up sandbags. He noted that about a half-dozen cities are assisting with the sandbag effort.
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