From September 9 through 16, 2013, catastrophic floods swept across Colorado’s Front Range, forcing thousands from their homes and leaving entire neighborhoods underwater. In Longmont, the St. Vrain Creek burst its banks, causing nearly $150 million in infrastructure damage. The city rebuilt with resilience in mind, with much of its focus on reconstructing the river channel to be prepared for future flooding events.
“12 years after the flood, we’ve constructed channel improvements that can safely pass those large storm events, contain them within the channel bank so that we don’t have flows out of bank,” said Josh Sherman, a civil engineer with the City of Longmont’s Public Works Department.
“Pre-flood, this channel was really not what it looks like today. It was narrower; it had really been from the beginning of the community, and farming, kind of pushed in. Like an irrigation ditch, more than a natural functioning stream,” he said…