New Drainage Structures to Improve Town Waterways

The Huntington Highway Department recently completed a project on Sea Spray Drive in Centerport, to improve water quality and waterways in Northport and the town of Huntington.

Due to age and the effects of decades of dredging, the Town’s drainage system that collects storm water runoff from Sea Spray Drive in Centerport and delivers it to Northport Harbor, as well as a former bulkhead located in a drainage easement within the Sea Spray Civic Homeowners Association’s right-of-way, had collapsed.

According to the Highway Department, the collapse impaired the Town’s drainage system, as well as the Homeowners Association’s dock and pilings.

The best way to prevent further erosion of the shoreline was steel sheeting, according to a town press release. The project included bulkhead construction and drainage improvements including installation of steel sheeting, gabion pads, removal and replacement of a portion of an existing concrete pipe, dock and pilings. 

The Town of Huntington Highway Office secured a storm water Water Quality Improvement Projects/ New York State Department of Environmental Control (NYSDEC) grant in 2011 for the installation of drainage structures that improve the quality of storm water entering the town’s waterways.

The project on Sea Spray Dr. directly affects Northport Harbor. The design of this project was undertaken soon after the grant was received and the Town Board voted in January of this year to fund the project.

The project at Sea Spray Dr. involved a steep slope catchment system that required a design that could process large volumes of water quickly. The town used a Downstream Defender, which is claimed to be the most advanced vortex separator, a method of removing particulates from water without the use of costly replaceable filters, available for the removal of sediment, oil and floatables from storm water runoff. It combines specially designed polyethylene internal components in a standard concrete manhole structure.