Cooley Road

Stream Restoration - Jan. 2019 

Scope of Work 

This project includes the restoration of two sections of unnamed tributaries to Mill Creek, which are located south of Cooley Road. In general, the stream channels are extremely incised, over widened, and channelized, with active eroding banks due to the County's highly erodible soils, combined with pre-stormwater management upstream development. This project is located in the Lower James River watershed and will provide credit toward the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) requirements.

The project consists of two stream segments near each other. The work at 130 Cooley Road consists of the restoration of approximately 240 linear feet of an unnamed tributary, with a drainage area of nearly 40 acres comprised mainly of residential land use, located about 600 linear feet upstream of Mill Creek. The restoration plan includes the construction of a series of step-pools to help dissipate flow energy as well as a cross vane in an area near a sanitary sewer line crossing.

The work at 142 Cooley Road consists of the restoration of approximately 270 linear feet of an unnamed tributary, with a drainage area of nearly 20 acres comprised mainly of residential land use, located about 290 linear feet upstream of Mill Creek. The restoration plan includes the construction of a series of step-pools to help dissipate flow energy and to properly tie into the existing streambed elevation and reconnect the stream with its floodplain.

In Feb. 2017, the County filed an application for additional project funding via the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) Stormwater Local Assistance Fund (SLAF). The application was successful and matching funds up to $222,500 are available for this project.

Since the project was waiting on SLAF funding, the Nationwide U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permit expired. An application for renewal was submitted in Aug. 2017 and was approved in Oct. 2017. The project was let out for bid in Dec. 2017 and the contract was awarded by the Board of Supervisors at the Feb. 13, 2018 regular meeting to Environmental Quality Resources, Ind. for $221,150.

The project kicked off in early May 2018 with clearing at 142 Cooley Road. Work is complete at 142 Cooley Road as of early July 2018. Clearing is complete at 130 Cooley Road and installation of structures is well underway. A rainy summer, private utilities and erosion from a roadside ditch previously hidden by vegetation is complicating the work, but work was substantially complete in early Sept. 2018. Only planting remains to be completed in the appropriate season, likely Nov. 2018.