East Haddam

Project Consultant: Kleinfelder

Location:

This project focuses on flooding from Succor Brook and the Connecticut River in East Haddam center. Flooding of Succor Brook has impacted buildings owned by Goodspeed, Norwich Road (Route 82), Creamery Road, and Lumberyard Road. Flooding from the Connecticut River has the potential to impact the Town's Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP).

Floodwaters have entered and damaged rehearsal and administrative buildings used by Goodspeed. Floods pose an unacceptable risk to Goodspeed; as a key asset for the region and the town, making Goodspeed’s operational capacities more resilient is beneficial to the region. The Town’s sewer treatment facility is also at risk for flood damage, which could impact the entirety of East Haddam center.

Situation: 

This project seeks to develop forward looking adaptation strategies with implementable recommendations and specific actions to mitigate the long-term impacts of climate change on the residents and people who work in East Haddam center. Adaptation options and implementation planning that are identified and carried forward to conceptual design will incorporate the Resilient Connecticut PERSISTS criteria.pdf.

Working closely with Goodspeed and the Town, the Consultant will evaluate combinations of building elevations, floodproofing, conversions of lower levels to floodable space, elevating building utilities, relocating building uses to other existing or new buildings, and/or flood protection systems (wall or berm systems).

The Consultant will also evaluate combinations of dam breach, dam removal, dam modifications, bridge replacement, floodplain restoration, floodplain bench creation, and other structural and channel-related projects to reduce velocities and/or flood elevations along Succor Brook corridor to decrease flooding events.

With many competing interests at play, the primary objectives are to identify interventions to reduce flood risks to Goodspeed facilities and the Town's WWTP; and to identify new locations for Goodspeed rehearsal and administrative buildings that could be pursued using federal funds.