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Saving A Sanitary Sewer: A Stream Restoration Success Story

Emily Poynter Jenkins, PhD, PE, CFM
Farnsworth Group Inc.
Champaign, Illinois

A 33-inch sanitary interceptor pipe lay exposed in the middle of the Unnamed Tributary to the Saline Branch.  Rising water from a storm carries a large log towards the exposed pipe.  The log rams into the pipe; the pipe bends but does not break – yet. 

Farnsworth Group Inc. received an emergency phone call from the Urbana and Champaign Sanitary District about the situation.  We assessed the situation and identified the following challenges:

  • Physical constraints of the site: including a bridge directly upstream, a hillside to the west, and elevation challenges as the invert of the pipe sat on the thalweg of the channel;

  • Structural properties of the soil: the soil was rich, organic silty-loam with little to no structural properties;

  • Expedited schedule: to start construction as soon as possible, the design needed to fit within the parameters of the Illinois Statewide Permit #9 and the Army Corps of Engineers Nationwide Permit #13;

  • Accessibility: the stream could only be accessed from the east bank;

  • Multiple Stakeholders: including the client (Sanitary District), landowner (Urbana Park District), and stakeholder (Saline Drainage District). 

Of the several options considered, the design entailed restoring the stream to a stable reach to protect the interceptor.  

Four years after construction, we assess the restoration and contemplate the success of the project.  what is working and where is there room for improvement?  How are seemingly small oversights made during construction now affecting the stream? 

Most importantly, we will explore how the process of arriving at the stream restoration solution has educated and influenced the involved stakeholders. Four years after the project, how do the stakeholders view stream restorations? How has the project changed the Urbana-Champaign community? And how are we defining the success of the project?

About Emily Poynter Jenkins, PhD, PE, CFM

Emily Poynter Jenkins is a Project Engineer at Farnsworth Group in Champaign, Illinois.  She specializes in stream restoration and bank stabilization design, green infrastructure stormwater design, and floodplain modeling. 

Emily attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering); the University of Maryland (Master of Science in Ecological Engineering); and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Ph.D. in Agricultural and Biological Engineering).