Overflowing ditch becomes unwanted lake

Marc Clermont is trying to figure out why an equestrian farm in the Hammond village area has an unexpected, and unwanted, instant lake overflowing onto the property. The ditch situation is now back to normal but that is just the start of work for Clermont and his people.

The public works director for the United Counties of Prescott-Russell (UCPR) spent most of the day last week, on-site, at the RS Equstrian Centre on Joanisse Road, which is also County Road 21, inspecting a roadside ditch which has overflowed so much, thanks to the past April rains this year, that it has created a small lake situation on a large part of the pasturage and paddock areas of the centre, and also flooded the front portion of the driveway access to the property.

“That’s a weird situation,” Clermont said during a phone interview April 21, adding that it is the first time he has seen that happen along that stretch of road, during his time as public works director.

Clermont had a pumper truck brought in to drain off most of the excess water in the ditch to both help reduce the flooding and also help with investigating why the drainage ditch is not working as it should. If there are any blockage problems or other difficulties, Clermont indicated he would look at putting that section of the UCPR’s roadside ditching responsibilities on the Les niveaux d’eau diminuent dans toute la région de Prescott-Russell alors que les conditions météorologiques s’améliorent. Mais, à quelques endroits, l’eau ne se retire pas aussi rapidement que les propriétaires le voudraient. La situation au Centre d’équitation RS, sur le chemin de comté 21 à Hammond, a attiré l’attention de Marc Clermont, directeur des travaux publics pour les comtés, qui tente de trouver une solution à la configuration du fossé de drainage en bordure de la route adjacente à la propriété. season work schedule.

“We’ll probably be looking at maybe putting in a cross-culvert for drainage further up the road,” he said, “so water can go into a municipal drain site. There does not seem to be a proper outlet right now.”

Clermont is also waiting for the level of the Ottawa River near Clarence Island to go down, so he can examine the OnesimeGuibord Road portion of County Road 8 on the far side of the bridge access to the island. That ended up flooded earlier this month due to a sudden rise in the river level, thanks to winter runoff and the heavy April rains.

The water there rose so high that it covered the concrete road barriers on the far side of the bridge. Clermont estimated the depth of the water flooding that portion of the road at about three feet.

Clermont noted that he was employed with the Town of Rockland, back in the 1990s, when the bridge and road connection to the island were first built. At the time, he said, the municipality was prevented by provincial regulations from building up the road on the far side to the same level as the bridge itself. That is the main reason for the occasional flooding problem there.

He wants to examine the granular surface portion of the road once the water has receded to determine if it needs resurfacing work. Clermont does not fear that the road stability is affected by the recent flooding because the original construction involved large stone chunks as the base support.