Bee Branch Creek Railroad Culverts Project Update

On the Garfield Ave. side of the tracks, the twin box culvert and temporary pump house are complete. The stormwater diversion plan is being constructed and the old pump station behind Dubuque Furniture & Flooring will be demolished soon. Once the pump house is down, they will be able to finish the stormwater diversion channel and prepare the retrieval pit for the micro-tunneling machine.

On the 16th St. side of the tracks, the new permanent pump station is under construction. They’ve poured concrete twice so far – once for the floor and once for the lower walls. They are currently working on extending the walls and they hope to pour concrete again sometime next week. Micro-tunneling is expected to start in early May. The photos below show some of the progress being made! 

About the Project
The Railroad Culverts Project is a critical phase of the larger Bee Branch Watershed Flood Mitigation Project and, once completed, will increase the flood mitigation system’s capacity to protect the area from a 75-year rain event to a 500-year rain event. The project involves using micro-tunneling methods to install six, 8-foot diameter culverts under the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) tracks along Garfield Ave. This will allow stormwater to drain more efficiently from the Upper Bee Branch Creek to the Lower Bee Branch Creek and 16th St. Detention Basin.

For more information about the project, visit www.cityofdubuque.org/beebranch.