City gets new drainage ditch

Siloam Springs recently built a drainage ditch with a material the city has never used before that allows storm water to soak into the ground.

The drainage ditch, which spans from 1901 to 1909 W. Jefferson St., was upgraded with a porous concrete blanket made by ArmorFlex, according to Justin Bland, city engineer.

“The reason we are using that instead of solid concrete is when we got the permit back from the (U.S. Army) Corps of Engineers,” Bland said, “they wanted us to use something that the water can soak back in.”

Bland estimated the ArmorFlex blocks were 10 percent to 20 percent higher than what the concrete-lined channel. The total cost of the project was $239,198 or $10.08 per block, he said. The ArmorFlex blocks are precast concrete blocks, which have cables holding them together so they can be laid on the ground, Bland said.

The materials used are ArmorFlexOpen Cell blocks, which look similar to traditional concrete blocks, and will allow water to pass through quickly and also allow grass and other vegetation to grow through, according to product images from conteches.com.

When asked whether green spaces are preferable to concrete spaces, Bland said both have their place and concrete does allow for more storm water to be carried through, but it does not help with water quality.

“We typically prefer grass-lined channels due to them being less costly and better for water quality,” Bland said.

He also said there was not enough space for a traditional grass-lined

Samual Pyeatte/Special to the Herald-Leader City street workers lay down a patch of Armorflex Open Cell concrete blocks in the drainage ditch located between 1901 and 1909 W. Jefferson St. The blocks are designed to allow water to soak back in instead of letting it just build up and possibly flood the street.