STURGIS, S.D. – The reconstruction of 7th Street where it crosses Bear Butte Creek will have to wait a little longer before any work can be done.
City officials were updated Monday night that following a post flood engineering analysis, it was determined that when the crossing was constructed, it was not approved by the Army Corps of Engineers or FEMA. City Manager Daniel Ainslie says therefore, the city can not legally reconstruct the crossing without gaining approval from those entities.
The 7th Street crossing was wiped out from flooding in 2019.
City Engineer Liz Wunderlich says in order to gain approval, the crossing will either need to be a low water crossing that would be flooded during major events or a bridge would need to be built. However, constructing a bridge adequate for the crossing would be expensive — easily over $1.2-million dollars.
A complete hydrological model of the creek and crossing is currently underway and the next steps will require a Conditional Letter of Map Revision to be submitted to FEMA. If approved, new mapping of Bear Butte Creek will take place and engineering based on the new mapping can be completed and the crossing can be rebuilt.
Wunderlich does say that FEMA will not allow any increase or rise of the upstream flood plain as a result of the construction of a structure. Thus, if the consultant cannot design a solution that meets FEMA’s requirement, the City will not be allowed to replace the crossing.
Wunderlich says the process is time-consuming and the best estimate for FEMA approval is 2021.
