2024 Governor’s Urban Conservation Award - Brandywine Falls Roadway Stabilization Project 

 

Stormwater runoff had damaged the retaining wall that stabilizes Brandywine Falls Road which is the only access into the community. The work site had limited access for the contractor and the work area was tight making the project logistics critical to the success of the project. Due to the limited area of disturbance, there was minimal stockpiling of materials on the project. The precast culvert, stone, and borrow were placed as they arrived at the site. In addition, the contractor removed the retaining wall and excavated materials in trucks as the materials were excavated, so contaminated run-off and erosion from the site was minimized.

2023 Governor’s Agricultural Conservation Award - Carousel Farm Park & Equestrian Center

 

The 217-acre Carousel Park & Equestrian Center, part of the New Castle County Parks and Recreation, houses over 35 exceptional equines, including 11 New Castle County Police Mounted Patrol Unit Clydesdales. By installing a manure storage building and concrete pad, Carousel Park is reducing erosion and runoff entering White Clay Creek, a major public water supply source. The manure storage building is an improvement, not only to the existing open manure storage facility but also water quality.

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2023 Governor’s Urban Conservation Award – Rockland Mills Retaining Wall Project 

 

Stormwater runoff was impacting vehicles, parking areas, and residential units in the community.  Replacing a deteriorating 30-year-old creosoted and salt-treated timber retaining wall, located at The Terraces in Rockland Mills, with an engineered, pre-cast modular block retaining wall improved management of stormwater runoff and eliminated erosion of the steep slopes that ultimately flow into the Brandywine River, the primary source of drinking water for the City of Wilmington. Utilizing pre-cast block and constructing in stages reduced the overall disturbance required to replace the wall.

2022 Governor’s Urban Conservation Award – Simonds Gardens Drainage Improvement Project 

 

The community wide project that addresses improved drainage and stormwater impairments, started with several meetings of the Simonds Gardens Civic Association, NCCD staff and the engineering consultant team followed by a neighborhood walk to identify issues of concern within the Simonds Gardens community.

2021 Governor’s Urban Conservation Award – Skyline Orchards Emergency Road Repair Project 

 

The August 2020 storms caused significant storm damage on the private roads in community of Skyline Orchard located on Brackenville Road near Ashland Nature Center, causing severe erosion, filling drainage pipes with sediment, flooding roads and creating a large sinkhole. The repairs required the removal of the accumulated sediment from the pipe and inlet basin on Dogwood Drive followed by the extension of the pipe on the outlet side, restoration of the embankment on the outlet side, followed by the placement of riprap, and repair of the road. The Hemlock Drive repairs included excavation of the sinkhole and pipe repair, sediment removal from the stormwater basin, and roadway repair. The cost to complete this work was $72,000, through contributions from the Skyline Orchard Civic Association, NCC Councilperson Janet Kilpatrick, State Representative Krista Griffith and Senator Laura Sturgeon and the New Castle Conservation District.

2019 Governor’s Urban Conservation Award - Westwoods Stormwater Management Pond Project

 

The Westwoods stormwater management pond failed following a severe storm in July 2017. The storm washed away a 24-inch corrugated metal pipe, resulting in the collapse of a 200-foot earthen embankment that covered the pipe, leaving an open channel emptying into a tributary of Mill Creek. New Castle County’s Department of Public Works contracted with New Castle Conservation District to reengineer and design the upgrade project; NCCD also provided construction inspection, permit acquisition, and construction management services when bid prices for construction of the pond upgrade project’s original design exceeded the county’s budget. The pond upgrade project restored the functions of the stormwater management pond as well as the accompanying benefits of water quality improvement and better sediment control.

2018 Governor’s Urban Conservation Award – Chetenham Bridge Replacement Project

 

The community of Westminster has privately-maintained streets including three bridges that cross Hyde Run, a small tributary of Mill Creek. In 2013, the Westminster Civic Association (WCA) contracted with Pennoni Associates to inspect the Cheltenham Bridge and provide recommendations to the WCA. The association planned to replace the existing bridge and remove an adjacent upstream bridge, realigning an affected driveway. The WCA contacted Representative Gerald Brady to request funding assistance; Rep. Brady contacted the New Castle Conservation District seeking engineering and funding assistance for the project. NCCD contracted with Pennoni for bridge engineering and design services, permit acquisition, limited construction services, and technical assistance. Pennoni used accelerated bridge construction methods to design a prefabricated concrete arch bridge to meet the community’s needs while allowing for a three-month construction period – about one-third of the construction time for a site-built bridge, minimizing community inconvenience and stream resource impacts. The contractor, Merit Construction Engineers, delivered and erected the 30-foot-long by 30-foot-wide precast concrete arch frame in just two days, saving an estimated $200,000 in construction costs. This bridge construction method may have applicability in other communities in New Castle County and throughout Delaware.

2017 Governor’s Urban Conservation Award – Dragon Run Tide Gate Replacement Project

 

Thirty years after the need to overhaul the Dragon Run tide gate was first reported, with the help of Senator Nicole Poore and Representative Valerie Longhurst, Delaware City obtained $500,000 to fund the project. From a partnership of the New Castle Conservation District, the Delaware City Refinery, Pennoni Consulting engineers and contractor Merit Construction Engineers, the project replaced the old 36-inch diameter tide gate with three 48-inch tide gates to provide enhanced tidal flood protection to the northeast section of Delaware City.

2015 Governor’s Urban Conservation Award – Carousel Park Bark Park Project

 

New Castle County’s Carousel Park on Limestone Road in Wilmington is heavily used by residents for outdoor recreation including hiking, picnicking, horseback riding, bird watching and dog walking. Uphill from the park’s centerpiece, an 8.7-acre pond, is a designated “bark park” with access to the pond’s southwestern edge for dog play. Environmental issues at the park addressed in a plan created by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service with the New Castle Conservation District included severe gully/soil erosion and sediment, and pet waste transfer to the pond, causing elevated levels of nutrients and bacteria.

 

The project included: construction of diversions and basins to drain runoff from the grassy sloped bark park area; installation of controlled culverts to move runoff into the pond via outlet pipes; stabilization of diversions, basins, gullies and all disturbed areas by hand-filling with topsoil, grass seeding to absorb excess nutrients and erosion control matting to preserve mature trees; placement of a mulch-filled fabric berm “log” along the bark park slope to intercept runoff and direct it to newly-installed basins; installation of a filter sock tube around the pond’s perimeter to provide additional protection; and reconstruction of the existing path with three concrete ramps to limit access by dogs and to allow emergency vehicle access.

 

New Castle County funded the $156,600 project, which was administered by the New Castle Conservation District and constructed by BrightFields, Inc., a Wilmington-based environmental services company. Benefits include reducing water quality impacts downstream of the park by stopping soil erosion into the pond and reducing the amount of sediment, bacteria, and nutrients going directly into the pond, which drains into a tributary of White Clay Creek, a National Wild and Scenic River/Watershed and key source of public drinking water for northern Delaware.