2016 GreenLITES Operations Best Practices Leader Award

Residency Name: Livingston Residency, Region 4 Residency Description: Livingston Residency is a rural county south of Rochester in Region 4. There are 671 lane miles of the State’s Highway Infrastructure within the boundaries of Livingston County for which the Residency has maintenance responsibilities. Project Description: Culvert Repair and Stream Restoration C420001 is a large culvert located on Route 5 just east of the Village of Avon. This culvert was inspected by Culvert Inspection teams on 11/11/15 and a PIA Red Flag was issued due to approximately 13 feet of undermining at the culvert outlet. Previously the culvert was red flagged for the scour at the outlet, but it was approximately 6 feet in 2014. The culvert is a 115’ long 8’x5’ concrete box. Due to the previous red flag, a plan was already in place for a repair to this culvert and a PCN was sent to the US Army Corps of Engineers on 9/2/15 and approved on 10/21/15. The work would involve filling the void under the culvert end with concrete; stabilizing the slopes around the wing walls and along the south stream bank, and installing 2 step pools to dissipate the energy of the water exiting the culvert while improving the connectivity of the stream. Sustainability and Environmental Highlights:

Many intergovernmental partnerships were utilized to complete the project (Livingston Co. Maintenance, R4 Bridge Maintenance, Regional Environmental group, NYSDEC & USACE)

The existing culvert is in good condition and this repair will extend the life of the culvert 20+ years.

During the course of the bank stabilization and filling the void, concrete panels from the I-390 concrete pavement rehabilitation were used as a recycled material. The slabs were used to make work pads and form a wall around the access road to the culvert as part of the bank stabilization.

Bank stabilization was kept to the minimum needed and the meander in the stream was preserved.

Existing culvert outlet scour had caused water displacement of approximately 4’ and an impediment to aquatic life movement. Step pools were installed to reduce the water displacement and thus provide better aquatic connectivity. Step pool design mimicked naturally occurring gradient changes or steps that were observed in the reference reach. This repair is consistent with the stream morphology of this region. Streams are dissipating energy as they flow down gradient towards the Genesee River Valley.

The cost of doing this project in-house was significantly less than it would have been if done via contract.

Doing a project like this in-house builds enhances staff skills and knowledge that will be beneficial during storm response situations.

Culvert condition at start of work Culvert condition after completion of work The drop was approx. 4’ and the scour pool was 3’-4’ deep

2016 GreenLITES Operations Best Practice Leader Award

Residency Name: Canajoharie Bridge Maintenance Residency Residency Description: The Canajoharie Bridge Maintenance Residency covers Montgomery, Fulton, Hamilton and parts of Herkimer Counties. The crew maintains and repairs approximately 175 bridges within these counties. Their annual work plan is made up of approximately 75 jobs varying in size and degree of work in addition to responding to emergency and flagged bridge requests. Project Description: Emergency Bridge Repair and Stream Restoration The Region 2 Bridge Maintenance Crew based at the Canajoharie Bridge Shop responded in mid-April 2015 to a sink hole that had developed along the shoulder of the Route 5 over Knauderack Creek Bridge during a high rain event, closing the westbound lane to traffic. During the rain event, water flowing over an upstream spillway, needed to be quickly diverted away from the eastern portion of the spillway to alleviate the undermining of the wingwall. Complicating matters was the fact that half of the spillway was owned by DOT and the other half, along with the property upstream was on private property. The property owner was a sub tribe of the St. Regis Mohawk Tribe who were very concerned with any work taking place in previously undisturbed soils. Coordination with the Nation, including monitoring while work was being completed, ensured that all parties were satisfied. In addition, coordination with the regulatory agencies to realign the stream occurred quickly so dewatering and repairs to the wingwall could commence and prevent further loss of material that would result in a larger sinkhole developing within the travel lane. Working with DEC Fisheries and the Army Corp of Engineers, a plan was developed to excavate the new channel alignment and accommodate stream and bankfull widths. Willows were planted and a streambank restoration seed mix was used to help stabilize the newly excavated channel and slopes. Additional manpower from the Fultonville Residency and Region 2’s Signal Shop helped with making the operation run smoothly. Sustainability and Environmental Highlights: By using NYSDOT forces to do the repair work, the use of the emergency contract was avoided. Also, material previously removed and stockpiled during the 2013 flood event was reutilized at this site for protection around the bridge abutment and along the western slope downstream of the spillway. This significantly reduced the costs associated with the emergency repair. As a result of this type of stream restoration work, NYSDOT has gained knowledge and experience that can be used in the future to repair eroding and unstable stream banks caused by the trend of higher frequency of long duration rain events.