No timeline yet set to address damaged gate, reopen Black River Canal

A slow state permitting process and lengthy assessment of damage at the Tainter gate structure on the Black River Canal could be contributing reasons why the waterway remains closed to boaters this season.

And so far, no specific timeline to reopen the canal and address gate concerns has been set.

That’s according to an update to boaters on Friday from the city of Port Huron.

After floodwaters heavily damaged the Tainter gate in late January, also exacerbating erosion on the banks of the canal, city officials promised long-term preservation of the century-old, man-made throughway from the Black River to Lake Huron on the city’s north side. Weeks of structural surveys, debris removal, and talks about solutions to rehabilitate the canal gate structure ensued soon after.

Now, the city says it’s still meeting with state environmental and engineering officials to determine needed permit requirements for short- and long-term plans to remove and replace the gate.

“Given the slow response from the state for our permit requests and the large scope of work to be completed, I would suspect the canal will be closed this season,” City Manager James Freed said in a statement. “We will continually send out status updates so that the community better understands just how significant the damage to the Tainter gate and canal banks truly are. We want the boating community to be informed.”

Tainter Gate Status Press Release by Jackie Smith on Scribd

Hugh McDiarmid, a spokesmperson for the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, conrimed that the agency has been in regular contact with the city on its canal issue.

In the city’s update, local officials were slated to meet with EGLE and engineers from firm DLZ on Tuesday to address subsequent permit requirements on the canal, adding that the state agency was reportedly “concerned that hydraulics will need to be evaluated by DLZ to confirm that there is no additional flooding upstream caused by the introduction” of a cofferdam.

Previously, city officials have described the history of the Tainter gate, as well as the associated superstructure over the canal at its east end near the mouth to the lake. The cofferdam would be a structure built or installed within a waterway allowing the water to be pumped out or controled.

Amid the January flooding, the canal gate had been opened to alleviate water pressure caused by an unseasonably early ice jam drifting down the Black River. The incident reversed the typical direction of water flow in the canal back toward the lake, sending a surge of debris that tore the gate from its substructure.

Moving forward, the city said the Tainter gate can’t be removed until a cofferdam is installed since it still prevents more sediment from migrating west. Only when the gate is removed can the damage on the gate be fully evaluated to determine whether it’s salvageable.

"The revised plan (has been) to install sheet pile to both sides of the gate, rather than just one. ... Sediment retention is new to us, so we are working to understand that," McDiarmid said via email Friday. "This does require permits from EGLE, and we are working to help the city submit a complete application that includes all the most current proposed work.

"The proces has been slowed by trying to arrange mutally agreeable meeting times and additional revisions to the proposed work, btu we are committed to assisting the city in any way possible to expedite this process."

According to its update, as the city pursues cofferdam permitting, DLZ will design a gate replacement and address erosion control.

Although no timeline was included for gate replacement, the city said it hoped some technical and electric motor structure components can be reused to help fast track repair.

The city said additional questions and information requests could be directed to the city’s engineering department and Engineering Manager Brent Moore at mooreb@porthuron.org.

Contact Jackie Smith at 810-989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: No timeline yet set to address damaged gate, reopen Black River Canal