The City of Newport announced on Thursday afternoon that its Utilities Department broke ground this week on an infrastructure project that will include installing a Tide Gate on Wellington Avenue.
The roughly $1.6 million project, which includes $500,000 in grant funding, is expected to eliminate dry-weather flooding and cut down on wet-weather flooding by up to 81 percent, according to the City.
“According to data from our Utilities Department, in recent years, Wellington Avenue has seen an average of 70 flooding events per year. The new tide gate is projected to bring that number down to 6, and reduce a calculated 62 hours of flooding down to 5 hours during a typical year,” the City shared on Facebook.
A tide gate is a common flood prevention structure for low-lying areas in communities. Tide gates close during incoming tides (high tide) to prevent flooding and open during outgoing tides (low tide) to drain upland areas.
Residents are advised that construction crews will be on-site over the coming weeks while they install a tide gate on a 66″ storm drain and associated culvert adjacent to the Wellington Avenue Pump Station.
“Once complete, the tide gate will be the third installed in recent years. Previous installs at Bridge Street and underneath Storer Park have proven successful in cutting down on tidal flooding in the Point area, and the hope is that similar results will be realized for residents in the Wellington Avenue neighborhood,” the City of Newport shared.
