Engineers could be in place this summer to help the city draw up plans to repair damage from the Pearl River flood.
Recently, the city issued a request for proposals (RFP) for engineering firms to help draw up plans for rehabilitating sewer lines, bridges, roads and other public property damaged by the February disaster.
Proposals are due May 12, and city officials hope to have contracts in place by June or July, according to a copy of the RFP.
“With the pandemic, the flood has become an afterthought,” said Engineering Manager Charles Williams.
Even so, flood damage has remained at the forefront for public works, which recently wrapped up a damage assessment with the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
In February, the Pearl rose to nearly nine feet above flood stage, inundating parts of Northeast Jackson, downtown Jackson and Flowood. Approximately 500 homes were affected.
In all, the city estimates that about $4.5 million in damage was done to public infrastructure in Jackson and Hinds County.
That damage includes a burst 24-inch sewer main along White Oak Creek, broken sections of the West Bank Interceptor, and erosion along Hanging Moss Creek near Ridgewood Road.
The city also believes, but has not confirmed, that 48-inch main under Ridgewood Road burst as a result of the flooding. The break occurred near Jackson Academy.
“There’s a hole in the concrete and we have barrels there,” Williams said. “Something happened.”
Additionally, the city is seeking funding to repave the numerous streets that were inundated with water, including North Canton Club Road and Westbrook Road, Williams said.
Several of the roadways damaged had recently been repaved by Hinds County
“Because they were inundated with water, we feel it’s our duty to resurface them and get them back into the condition they were in before,” he said.
Flood-related erosion also led the sewer main break at White Oak.
The break occurred near Fairfax Circle. When waters receded, they took away a portion of the creek walls that were supporting the main, causing the line to collapse.
“When floodwaters get high and then quickly recede, it quickly erodes the embankment,” Williams explained. “That being in the embankment, was in danger of collapsing, because there was nothing there to support it.”
A sewer pump has been installed in the area to prevent waste from backing up into the creek. However, a permanent solution had not been drawn up at press time.
He expects any repairs there to cost at least half a million dollars.
Jackson hopes a large chunk of the $4.5 million in repairs will be paid for with federal and state funds.
“For disaster assistance, the threshold for assistance is a little under a million dollars in damage. We were over that. Altogether it was $4.5 million for the city and the county,” Williams said.
With disaster relief, the city would have to pay for repairs up front and would be reimbursed by the feds and the state. FEMA would reimburse the city for 75 percent of project costs, while the state would cover 12.5 percent.
