The Quinlan Covered Bridge in Charlotte carries hundreds of vehicles over the Lewis Creek each day and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  The geographic setting of this bridge presents some challenges for public safety and flood resilience.  The bridge span is less than the natural bankfull width of the Lewis Creek channel, and oriented at a sharp angle to the channel, with this constriction leading to upstream sedimentation and scour of the bridge abutments. Access roads, Spear Street and Monkton Road, constrain the channel and floodplain both laterally and vertically, accelerating floodwater conveyance under the bridge. Historic ice jams and river flooding have threatened the integrity of the abutments of this historic bridge, and subjected a nearby residential property to inundation flooding and erosion hazards.

To enhance flood resilience of this historic bridge, Lewis Creek Association has worked with the community and stakeholders over the years to enhance floodplain function in the bridge vicinity including replacement of an undersized tributary culvert. Alternatives for improving flood resilience will be discussed and viewed during this walk. Please register for the walk at the link below, in case weather requires a cancellation.

This walk will be led by Jessica Louisos, Principal Water Resources Engineer at SLR, and is a follow-up to the talk given by Kristen Underwood on August 26th.