Surry County included in HRPDC pilot to install roadway flooding sensors; vendor covers first three years
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Summary
County staff reported HRPDC will place three of 50 regional flooding sensors in Surry County at bridge sites; HRPDC/vendor will fund installation and three years of operation, with VDEM hosting a public dashboard and an estimated $1,500/year maintenance cost for the county after the pilot.
Surry County received three of 50 roadway flooding sensors being deployed through a Hampton Roads Planning District Commission (HRPDC) grant, county presenters told the roads committee. The sensors are intended primarily for bridges over perennial water bodies and will send near-real-time data via cellular networks to a dashboard hosted by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management (VDEM).
County presenter (S4) said HRPDC and the vendor selected site candidates in Surry including Route 31 north of Dendron, a bridge over Cypress Swamp, a location near Otterdam Swamp on Route 40 and a site on the Surry–Prince George county line. “They are gonna cover the cost completely for 3 years,” S4 said, adding that after the pilot the county’s share of operations would be about $1,500 a year for all three sensors combined.
Why it matters: committee members noted the pilot could help emergency responders and navigation apps detect flooded roadways in real time, but some supervisors questioned whether bridge-mounted sensors would capture conditions on frequently flooded low-lying roads where cellular coverage can be poor.
Board members pressed the presenter on coverage and liability. Presenter S4 said bridge sites were preferred because sensors mounted to bridges get sunlight, avoid being driven over and use cellular carriers to transmit data; ground-level sensors exist but are costlier and more prone to damage. When asked about responsibility for damage during the three-year period, the presenter said the equipment and repairs would be the vendor’s responsibility during HRPDC’s agreement.
Several supervisors suggested ditch-cleaning and traditional drainage work might better address chronic flooding locally; others said the pilot, at no cost for three years, was worth trying to gather objective data for future decisions.
Next steps: staff said they will continue coordination with HRPDC and VDEM, confirm final installation dates and report back to the committee.