The Other Elephant in the Room

 

I just returned from walking Paul Spring Creek, from Pickwick Lane to the two 4 foot diameter culvert pipes that carry the creek under Paul Spring Road and into Voigt Park. Just a few feet north of those culvert pipes is a footbridge. That footbridge and the abutment that houses the two 4 foot culvert pipes are damming the creek during rainstorms. The dammed water then backs up Paul Spring Creek westward to beyond Stafford Road. These impediments to free flow, and the resulting turmoil, erode that stretch of creek, working destructively in conjunction with all the water that flows down the hill through Goodman Park, down the streets, and down across various homeowners’ yards.

 

NUMBERS:

Here are the numbers and here is a logical fix that will allow Paul Spring Creek to flow more freely. It would mitigate, or eliminate, the flooding of Paul Spring Road.

 

The footbridge only allows 2’ x 10’ of flow beneath it. That is 20 square feet of drainage for the creek before it has to escape the channel.

 

The two 4 foot diameter culverts that pass under Paul Spring Road provide 25 square feet of drainage under the road.

 

BUT, the creek width where it enters the two 4 foot culvert pipes is ~4’ x 20’, or 80 square feet.

 

This creates a major bottleneck that causes the creek to back up beyond Stafford Road. This impeded flow causes erosion well upstream, and of course the water eventually rises out of the creek channel and floods Paul Spring Road, McCalley Park and Voigt Park.

 

SOLUTION: 

• Remove the low-hanging footbridge and relocate that path to the other side of the creek, along Paul Spring Road in the direction of the Fort Hunt Road entrance. A bridge would no longer be needed.

• Remove the two 4 foot culvert pipes under Paul Spring Road and build a flat bridge (unnoticeable from the street) that would provide ~80 square feet of unobstructed passage for the stormwater racing down the creek.

• This solution would more that triple the area provided for the creek to flow under Paul Spring Road and would naturally decrease, and in most if not all cases, eliminate the flooding of Paul Spring Road.

 

I suppose VDOT would need to be involved. Why wouldn’t they undertake addressing this obvious bottleneck that is flooding the roads that they maintain?

 

Eliminating this bottleneck, combined with undergrounding the stormwater culvert pipe that drains most of the roadway that is Martha’s circle, would be major steps in channeling and controlling our stormwater flows.

 

Marc Shapiro

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(Above is a 2019 letter to the Hollin Hills Bulletin. It was rejected for publication, with the following rationale [below my response] from the then President of CAHH):

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Hi Patrick,

 

I am very disappointed to see your decision, and I think you ought to reconsider excluding my article from the next Bulletin. The Paul Spring abutment is a major impediment to creek flow. Though the overall condition of contiguous segments of the creek might be a complex circumstance, the abutment problem is quite simple to solve. The math is inescapable. The space for the creek would be widened to fit the creek, benefitting the entire waterway and removing the most significant impediment to natural flow.

 

The abutment/bridge ‘damming' is fundamental to the parks issues that are currently being discussed.

 

I urge you to include my letter and photograph in the next Bulletin. This is a major aspect of the flooding issue that has gotten little or no attention. It is a critical aspect of the Parks dynamic that is front and center at this moment.

 

If you still feel as if you want to restrict publication of this important article in the Bulletin, then I respectfully request that you put it to a published vote of all of the CAHH officers.

 

After all, there is plenty of room for my small piece in ’the cloud’! I don’t think such an important issue should be kept out of the official community newspaper of the CAHH. I have paid my dues since I bought on Martha's in 1984.

 

Last, the Hollin Hills Bulletin has been a continuous monthly newspaper for the neighborhood since 1951. I have never heard that it is restricted to announcing social events and such. As a matter of fact, two events come to mind that garnered extensive coverage in the Bulletin: the ill-fated cell tower arrangement with AT&T, and the steeply pitched roof addition of some notoriety.

 

Regards,

Marc

 

 

From: <ffxkelly@aol.com>
Date: Friday, August 16, 2019 at 3:40 PM
To: Marc Shapiro <2marc@verizon.net>
Subject: Your Article on Paul Spring Park

 

Marc:

 

Barbara Shear is putting together the September issue of the Bulletin and showed me the two articles that you wrote for inclusion. Your first article on Goodman and Brickelmaier Parks will be published. However, I've decided not to include your article on the flooding issue at Paul Spring Park. 

 

It's not that I don't disagree that the flooding there isn't a significant issue that needs to be addressed. However, the "fix" is quite complicated, involves the sustainability (survivability?) of McCalley and Voigt Parks and possible even the Hollin Hills Pool, will require concerted action from the County, VDOT, & probably the General Assembly, and will need millions of dollars. It's a challenge that goes beyond Hollin Hills both upstream and downstream from us.  

 

We made an editorial exception in the July/August issue and in the coming issue to use the Bulletin to present different points of view on the parks projects. However -- as you know -- the Bulletin's primary purpose is for announcements, for gardening/yard advice, for some local history, and for building a sense of community. It just isn't flexible or timely enough to work as a discussion board nor is it intended to be by the Civic Association. 

 

I believe that your Paul Spring article and photos would better be shared on the open forum or sites like "Nextdoor." The subject is also appropriate for discussion at our next membership meeting which will probably be in early December. 

 

Sincerely,

 

Patrick

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