Corps: Island dikes need a cleaning
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December 5, 2019
Consolidated Diking District No. 1 of Puget Island will embark on an extended vegetation management program next year along Island dikes.
Diking Commissioner Tony Aegerter on Tuesday announced that the district will be removing trees and other vegetation on exposed areas on the outside edges of the dikes.
The work is in response to the US Army Corps of Engineers, which walked the dikes last summer to inspect. The vegetation needs to be cleared away so that inspectors can see the base of the dike and out 15 feet.
Aegerter said the work--mowing or tree clearing--would take place only on areas abutting the water, not on filled areas such as a residential yard.
He expects the work to take 4-5 years to complete. The district will start with two demonstration projects next year, one along North Welcome Slough Road and the other on Little Island.
The district will also restore dike shoulder to a 1:1 slope in areas where the dike has sloughed away.
The district also needs to work on pumping stations and drain pipes. Some pumps are very old, and the pipes from the pumps to the river are deteriorating. The district recently hired a contractor to install a new pipe inside drain pipes at Groves Slough. Work at the Hedlund Road station will require a complete excavation of the pipes under East Birnie Slough Road.
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