Porter County board approves INDOT plan to replace culvert on State Road 8 over Phillips Ditch

The Porter County Storm Water Management Board voted to approve INDOT’s plan to replace a small reinforced-concrete box structure carrying State Road 8 over Phillips Ditch, the board heard on a docket labeled SM2600006.

Chelsea, a county staff member who presented the project, said staff examined the proposed stream crossing and "recommends the approval of the proposed replacement of the small structure here." She told the board the existing structure is roughly 19 feet, 10 inches in span with about a 6-foot-6-inch rise and that the proposed replacement would be a larger reinforced-concrete box (about a 24-foot span and roughly 7-foot rise), with new wing walls, rock aprons and energy-dissipating outlet treatments intended to reduce scour.

The presentation described in-stream work to be conducted in the dry using bypass pumping and a temporary sandbag dyke, and noted that the applicant will likely need authorizations from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. Chelsea asked that those authorizations be forwarded to the department when they are received and requested that the department be invited to the pre-construction conference and be contacted at least 72 hours before in-stream work begins.

Board members asked whether the county must execute damage agreements for the regulated drain and whether INDOT had already applied for the necessary permits; staff clarified the project is under state jurisdiction and said permit applications have been sent to the agencies.

A board member moved to approve the INDOT application; a second was made and the motion passed by voice vote. Staff said the item will also be presented at the storm water management board meeting scheduled for Tuesday, May 19 at 9:00 a.m., and that an approval letter would be issued after that meeting.

Next steps: staff will collect and file the required state/federal permits, attend the pre-construction conference if invited, and work with INDOT and county highway staff on any agreed detour routing and pre-construction coordination.