Army engineers seek public input on Charleston Brick Arches rehab

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Charleston District, is seeking public input on environmental documents that could impact the City of Charleston’s Brick Arches Stormwater Project rehabilitation. USACE, in close cooperation with the City of Charleston, is proposing to rehabilitate specific segments of the historic brick arch stormwater system located on Calhoun, Coming and Tradd Streets. Staff expect to start construction this fall.

“Charleston District and the City have a strong partnership built on collaboration across multiple infrastructure and resiliency projects, such as the Brick Arches,” said Wes Wilson, project manager. “Fortunately, we expect environmental impacts to be minimal as this work involves rehabilitation of existing infrastructure,” he said. However, public input is important and we want to know if there are any issues we should consider.”

The proposed project consists of the rehabilitation of the historic arches by lining them with fiber-reinforced shotcrete and installing approximately twenty-three new manholes. Staff estimate the total project will cost $12.625 million. The Water Resources Development Act (WRDA) of 1992, as amended, authorizes USACE to conduct this work.

USACE has prepared a Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) and Draft Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, as amended, to assess the potential environmental effects. Those documents are available here: https://www.sac.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/NEPA-Documents/.

The NEPA process can include public comment periods. This project has a 30-day comment period, which ends May 10. It’s important to note that substantive comments about the project are most helpful. Substantive comments are:

• Clear and specific.
• Provide new information.
• Question assumptions.
• Propose alternatives.
• Include supporting evidence.
• Include personal information.
• Include location information.

You can learn more about NEPA, here: https://ceq.doe.gov/get-involved/citizens_guide_to_nepa.html.