Firth Faces Ferocious Flooding

The section of Cirby Creek protected by the Geoweb system was under more than ten feet of water during a flood in January 1995, that was said to be the worst flood on record.

Designers and engineers of Cirby Creek in Roseville, CA are proud today-- as their project recently withstood the worst flood on city record, and the wettest season on record for the entire Sacramento Valley; protected from erosion with cellular confinement technology, the creek was under more than ten feet of water, but held its own.

Garth Gaylord, Associate Civil Engineer for the City of Roseville Department of Public Works, explains: "We received quite a bit of flood damage. The area with the confinement system held up during that flood and reacted as expected. The homes that the system was designed to protect did not receive flood damage, but in 1987 when the structures were not present, those same homes did receive flood damage.

As the first channel project to utilize the tan facia material, which lends a more natural appearance to the exposed system face, the project entailed aspects of channel protection, slope protection, and earth retention. Spink Corporation Senior Principal-in-Charge Jim Barnts steered the hydraulic design of the creek in order to withstand the flood damage. The multidisciplinary firm's Landscape Architects guided the revegetation of the slopes, as aesthetics were very important to the project, and the facia is now fully vegetated and blends into the natural surroundings.

Photo provided courtesy of Presto Products Company.