Work finally began this week on slope failure repairs to a portion of Valmeyer Road near D Road in Columbia that has been closed to the public for nine months due to flooding and erosion issues. 

The city announced in October it had opted for culvert installation as the best option to keep Carr Creek from eroding the roadside, thereby preventing future washouts and road failures.

The decision came following months of delays.

Since Valmeyer Road runs adjacent to Carr Creek – a federally recognized stream – repairs to this roadway that connects Route 3 to Bluff Road have involved multiple agencies, including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Illinois Department of Natural Resources. 

Once the culvert plan was decided, the purchase of materials were approved Nov. 3, with the project let for bid Dec. 1.

The City of Columbia announced last week the work would begin Jan. 12, with the project anticipated to be completed in approximately 4-6 weeks, weather permitting.

More than  $800,000 has been dedicated to the project already, with a total cost over $1 million possible.

Stutz Excavating was awarded the construction bid by the city at a cost of $437,777.77. The city also approved a bid of $334,250 to McCann Concrete Products for the fabrication of concrete box culverts used for this work. 

The final total will likely include further payment to Millennia Professional Services for a hydraulic study in the area of Valmeyer Road. The city has already paid just over $31,000  for those services.

The approved total for Millennia is not currently disclosed in any Columbia City Council agendas or minutes. A request for that total was not answered as of press time.

The city has also not disclosed the amount of possible “mitigation credits” it will need to purchase. 

During the Sept. 2 meeting, Columbia City Administrator Doug Brimm reported the city was to meet with the Corps of Engineers to “dial in the stream mitigation credits” needed to facilitate the culvert solution in hopes of discovering a “quantifiable amount that will be tacked on top of the materials, labor and installation price.”

No update has been provided on that total, which has the potential to push the project over the $1 million threshold. 

According to the USACE website, stream credits cost between $40 and $50 per credit, with four credits equalling about one linear foot of stream restoration.

Wetland credits range from  $35,000 to $50,000 per acre.

The stream mitigation system was explained in updates posted Aug. 11 and Nov. 21 at columbiail.gov. The posts have since been removed from the website and its news archives.

The Valmeyer Road closure is the latest in a series of issues in the area, with that road in particular being the subject of several sinking, erosion or flooding incidents over the past two decades.

In 2013, a geo-technical firm was contracted to evaluate the cause of “sinking” on Valmeyer Road brought about by heavy rains. 

At the time, the city made “minor” repairs to keep water from entering the soil beneath the roadway – though no major work was done after the engineering firm released its study findings.

Millennia recommended installation of a culvert on Valmeyer Road between Admiral Trost Drive and Columbia Centre Drive in January 2015, with the culvert being installed in late 2016.

At the time, a nearby property suffered repeated flooding.

The culvert installation was part of an agreement with Equity Trust Company, owners of the parcel in question, the former Video Exchange film and video game rental location near the intersection of Route 3 and Valmeyer Road.