Capaha-Penny drainage improvements are in holding pattern

Construction for Penny-Capaha Drainage Improvement Project, in and around Capaha Park Pond, is in a holding pattern because of supply-chain issues.

Stan Polivick, director of the Public Works Department, said the contractor — Nip Kelley Equipment Co. Inc. — is waiting on R chambers, which are used in constructing the underground stormwater detention centers. The chambers, in essence, create a cave underground.

"It's basically creating an underground detention pond, so we can store some stormwater out of the system for a period of time during the bigger rains," Polivick said.

There have been some issues with area businesses flooding during heavy rain. Polivick said the detention centers will help provide those businesses relief from that issue in the future.

There isn't any reliable information on when the chambers will be delivered. The director said work will likely finish quickly, pending weather, once the chambers arrive. Improvements could be finished as early as a month after their arrival.

This is not the first time supply-chain issues have delayed this particular project. Issues receiving a box culvert delayed the closure of Broadway from the summer to early September.

City engineer Amy Ferris said in an email to the Southeast Missourian last month that the project was initially awarded in early 2022 in hopes that Broadway would be closed prior to school being in session. Supply-chain issues nixed that plan.

The roadway was closed between North Sunset Boulevard and Penny Avenue for two weeks to complete the improvements.