NORFOLK, Va. — A new berm project in Norfolk’s Larchmont-Edgewater neighborhood is already showing results in reducing tidal flooding that has long frustrated residents.
City officials say the $800,000 project at the intersection of Sylvan Street and Walnut Hill Street is designed to stop the nuisance flooding that once left neighbors stranded as often as 20 times a year.
“At a very ground level, from a ground level context, it was to mitigate nuisance, tidal flooding on the street there at the intersection of Sylvan Street and Walnut Hill Street,” said Chris Epes, a project manager with Norfolk’s Division of Environmental Stormwater Management.
“The elevation right there, where it borders the Lafayette River, was such that that road was inundated about 20 times a year by moderate high tide events, and that would effectively shut off a whole block of residents for being able to get to and from their homes.”
Epes said the berm project, while relatively small in scope, is part of a much larger citywide resiliency effort.
“It’s like a small project, but part of a broader, multi-faceted resilience strategy in trying to prevent flooding in Norfolk as best as we can by, you know, the smaller berm projects, but kind of scaling up to larger infrastructure projects, shoring up shorelines with living shoreline projects, and even up to the CSRM flood wall project,” he said.
The work is not entirely finished.
Epes said one berm has been completed, while additional grading up the street is expected to be wrapped up in the next few weeks.
Despite progress, some residents have still seen water in their streets during recent storms. Epes explained that even with new flood defenses, there are limits.
“There are a couple of reasons why flooding can still happen,” he said. “One, rainwater builds up in the street, and if it’s during high tide, then that water has no ability to drain. The other reason is that tidal flooding can come up the outfall drainage pipes and into our infrastructure and come up into the street through storm drains.”
He added that the city has installed a tide valve at that outfall to help prevent water from backing up, but the devices are not foolproof.
“Those things get fouled up all the time with garbage, mussels, oysters, you know, whatever. So we have every one of those tide valves on annual maintenance, getting people out there and cleaning them out,” Epes said.
For neighbors, the improvements are already noticeable.
“This is another good news story here for Norfolk and especially this neighborhood,” said Michael Crockett, president of the Larchmont-Edgewater Civic League.
“They actually came in here, raised what was existing, which was an earthen berm from three feet up to four feet," he said. "They solidified it with a bunch of concrete blocks all filled with dirt. Put this great Bermuda grass on top, which is going to take root. Do good things. And they’ve even replanted a lot of the marsh grass. I mean, we’re so excited about it.”
Crockett said the change may not eliminate flooding entirely, but it’s a big improvement.
For residents, Crockett said, the project comes down to quality of life.
“Well, it means you can drive down the street, you can park down your street, you can walk down your street. It’s the basics, basically,” he said. “This is a huge success story. And I know the folks who live here on Sylvan and Walnut are absolutely thrilled.”
Crockett also acknowledged that, like the rest of Norfolk, the neighborhood can’t be completely shielded from the effects of rising water.
“We can’t stop these king tides,” he said. “We can try our best, like the city is, to try to mitigate that flooding in the streets and everything. Each of these berms, like the one we have on Carroll Place on the Larchmont side, has a check valve, and those sometimes get clogged and might sometimes cause some additional flooding. But we call the city, they come out, they clear it. This is just part of living in Norfolk, Virginia.”
City officials say with regular maintenance, the berm should last for years.
Epes said the final phase is on track for completion within weeks, and the city will continue to identify other neighborhoods where smaller projects like this could complement larger flood defense efforts.
“To the residents, I just want to say thank you, because they have been a pleasure to work with,” Epes said. “The berm has already stopped two major inundations from totally flooding out the street and allowing the neighbors and residents to walk through there. So we’ve just been very pleased with the reception we’ve gotten there.”
