2004-5 Pipe

2004 08 30 Tropical Storm Gaston

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On August 30 2004 Tropical Storm Gaston passed over central Virginia, dropping 10-12 inches of rain on downtown Richmond. We were out of town, so we missed the rain. It must have been awesome, and frightening. This storm has been well documented elsewhere, and I am glad we missed it. We did get several phone calls telling us we had significant damage and we should get back in town. We did, and this is what we found.

The first shot is of the now (after Gaston) sleepy little creek that runs along our road. You can see the entrance to the 24" pipe that runs along the road, turns right, and then heads for the canal. My guess is that the flood waters were 2+ feet deep here at the edge of the road.

Looking the other way (west) from about 40 feet east of the first shot. The large sycamore tree that is lit by the sun is now gone.

Here's the other end of the 24" pipe. The two trees were taken down the day after Gaston since they were leaning and on unstable ground.

Same again. You can see that the pipe just failed when the ground around it was eroded. The manhole box was just at the right edge of this picture.

Looking up from the pipe exit The headwall stayed in place but nothing else did. Most of the concrete rubble was fill that the pips sat on.

Same again.This canyon is about 80 feet long and maybe 15 feet deep at the deepest point. All this erosion happened in a few hours.

Again.

Looking down from the top of the new canyon.

All of this was shot with a very wide lens, so everything looks smaller than actual.

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