Drainage authority orders CD 38A improvement after final engineer's report; estimated cost about $807,000

The Nicollet County Drainage Authority reviewed and ordered an improvement to County Ditch 38A (Branch 1, Lateral D and Branch 4) after receiving a final engineer’s report from Houston Engineering, the DNR advisory report and the viewers’ report.

Houston Engineering told the authority the two branches serve about 425 acres and that much of the existing tile, installed in the early 1900s, has reached the end of its functional life. The proposed work would replace and upsized tile where needed, reconnect public and private laterals, install intakes in low areas, abandon the old tile by crushing and plugging sections, and place rock in outlets to reduce erosion.

The engineer described a design-sized drainage coefficient of 0.5 inch per day, proposed tile diameters ranging from 10 to 24…