Restoration and Floodplain Reconnection on Georges Creek
Patrick McMahon, PhD, PE, CFM
Civil and Environmental Consultants
Knoxville, TN
Jeff Shaver, PE, CFM, CPESC
Civil and Environmental Consultants
Nashville, TN
The Georges Creek Stream Restoration Project is located approximately 2.3 miles southwest of the City of Frostburg in Allegany County, Maryland. It includes the reestablishment of approximately 2,350 linear feet of Georges Creek and 1.3 acres of wetland with anastomosed channels across an abandoned coal-mining pit, the restoration of approximately 317 feet of an unnamed tributary to Georges Creek, the development of recreational fishing ponds, and the grading of two abandoned coal-mining high walls. Braided channels are integrated into the floodplain to enhance floodplain connectivity during greater than bank full events. This presentation will provide an overview of the project and address the 2D modeling used to inform the stream design and describe potential pitfalls in the use of 2D results to predict stream instability.
About Patrick McMahon, PhD, PE, CFM
Patrick McMahon is a Senior Project Manager and the Water Resources Practice Lead for the Knoxville Office of Civil & Environmental Consultants. He earned a BS in Civil Engineering and MS in Environmental Engineering from the University of Tennessee in 2003 and 2005 respectively. He returned to UT as a practicing professional in 2009 and earned a PhD in Civil Engineering in 2013. With seventeen years of experience in water resources engineering his expertise includes single event and continuous simulation hydrologic modeling, 1, 2, and 3-dimensional hydraulic modeling, sediment transport analyses, stream restoration design, National Flood Insurance Program compliance, MS4 compliance, erosion control, storm drainage design, and retrofit, fish passage analyses, dam removal, and dam breach analyses.
About Jeff Shaver, PE, CFM, CPESC
Jeff Shaver is a Senior Project Manager and the Water Resources Practice Lead for the Nashville Office of Civil & Environmental Consultants. He received a Bachelors in Civil Engineering from Tennessee Tech and a Master’s in Civil Engineering from UT Knoxville. With over 19 years of civil engineering experience in both the public and private sectors focused in the water resources field his experience includes hydrologic and hydraulic modeling, floodplain management, hydraulic design of bridges and culverts, watershed studies, complex drainage analysis and design, dam breach analysis and emergency action planning, stream bank stabilization and natural stream design, stormwater management, water quality design, and erosion prevention and sediment control design.