A state report released Friday found the Woodrow Wilson Bridge project had little impact on the devastating flooding in Huntington this summer.
“The homes and properties that were inundated by the June 2006 flood would have been inundated regardless of whether construction activities associated with then [Woodrow Wilson Bridge] were in place or not,” the report said.
The findings run counter to speculation by many in the area that the nearby project to replace the span of the bridge added to the devastation around Arlington Terrace, the community that was dealt the region’s worst damage during the storms.
In late June, a swollen Cameron Run sent a wall of sewage-infested water into scores of homes in the neighborhood off Huntington Road, causing millions in property damage and leaving many homeowners temporary displaced.
The report, ordered by Virginia’s secretary of transportation, said “a thorough study of the conditions and circumstance surrounding the flooding … demonstrates that Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project construction activities neither caused nor materially contributed to the flood.” The project attributed to only a “five to ten inch” increase in flood elevation along nearby streets – with the highest levels occurring away from the neighborhood.
Instead, the report points to the affected area’s location within the flood plain of Cameron Run and the record-breaking rainfall as responsible for the flooding.
However, some were not satisfied with an internal report from the commonwealth on a project it was so heavily involved in. Geoff Livingston, who saw his home’s basement office flooded with putrid water, said he’s waiting for the results of a broader, more long-term flood study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which is also underway.
“I wouldn’t exactly call this the most independent investigation,” he said of the state report.
John Undeland, spokesman for the bridge project, said the study was done in coordination with Fairfax County, the city of Alexandria and the Army Corps.
“It was a very through study done using the best methods, to really ascertain whether the bridge had an impact on the flooding or not,” he said.
