Helping Hinsdale

About the author:

Anthony J. Charlton, P.E., is director of DuPage County Stormwater Management. Charlton can be reached at 630.407.6688. 

Anthony J. Charlton

Located in Hinsdale, Ill., just outside of Chicago, the Graue Mill Subdivision is home to more than 340 residences consisting of townhomes and condominiums. The neighborhood is adjacent to Salt Creek, a major tributary to the Des Plaines River that flows along the eastern portion of DuPage County. Graue Mill’s close proximity to the more than 43-mile long stream causes flooding issues. However, adding to the riverine flooding, the densely populated neighborhood also is subject to extensive interior drainage issues and urban flooding.

Residents incurred repetitive flooding throughout the neighborhood, suffering through major floods in 2010 and 2013. During these floods, residents experienced extensive loss of property. Notably, in 2013, an entire underground parking structure and all the cars went under water, and first responders had to evacuate residents using boats and large dump trucks.

Despite these severe flooding issues, solutions were costly and difficult to implement in the highly developed suburban neighborhood with limited open space, mature trees and a significant amount of floodplain, which itself posed extra permitting hurdles.

The Solution

After multiple significant flooding events, it was evident to the village of Hinsdale that it needed to do something to mitigate the situation. Though funding for construction was not yet in place, the village entered into a contract with Christopher B. Burke Eng. LLC to design the much-needed flood control improvements. 

Unlike other standard flood control projects, engineers had to account for several aesthetic considerations while designing the project. Retrofitting floodwalls, berms and floodgates into a long-standing and densely populated community was not an easy feat. Ultimately, the design incorporated aesthetic features to make the flood control improvements fit seamlessly with the neighborhood. This included form liners for the concrete walls that were strategically airbrushed to match the color of the existing brick façade and passive floodgates designed to operate solely on water pressure without any electrical intervention.

In total, the project called for more than 2,500 ft of new storm sewer, four pump stations, 13 floodgates, 7.5 acre-ft of compensatory storage, and more than 3,100 ln ft of concrete floodwalls and earthen berms. The engineer’s estimate was nearly $4 million.

Funding

The community was vocal to local governing agencies about the issues in the neighborhood. However, the problem did not lack urgency; it lacked funding. On a local level, the Graue Mill Homeowners Assn., Village of Hinsdale and DuPage County could not financially support all the needed improvements, so the search for funding expanded to the state of Illinois and federal government. 

Backed by local agencies, residents successfully championed both federal and state officials to contribute funding to the project. The Federal Emergency Management Agency-via the Illinois Emergency Management Agency-awarded a $2.5 million grant under its Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. In addition, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources provided a more than $600,000 grant to help fund the project. DuPage County’s Stormwater Management Department, the village of Hinsdale and the Graue Mill Homeowners Assn. contributed to the local match, and the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County provided land for the compensatory storage in the nearby Fullersburg Woods Forest Preserve, which was crucial to satisfying strict permit requirements.