Duharts Creek in Gastonia, North Carolina, will be strengthened by restoring the stream, stabilizing the creek bank, and realigning critical water and power infrastructure.
Gastonia, North Carolina: $5.98 Million
This is a Justice40 project.
History
Gastonia, which is in the Charlotte metropolitan area, is a historic center for textile manufacturing and was the site of the 1929 Loray Mill Strike, a key event in the labor movement. Duharts Creek is located along the east side of Gastonia. Frequent and increasingly severe rain events have left Duharts Creek vulnerable to flooding and caused significant erosion along the banks. Continued heavy rain events, and resulting erosion, have caused nuisance flooding and threatens to jeopardize the integrity of critical infrastructure lines.
Project Description
This federal grant funding will strengthen Duharts Creek by restoring the stream, stabilizing the creek bank and realigning critical water and power infrastructure. This design approach emphasizes nature-based solutions and materials with several recommendations including bank regrading, natural-fiber erosion control matting and native plantings. The goal is to reduce the severity of erosion and encroachment from future flood events. These efforts will be completed in two phases. Phase one includes notice of grant award, preliminary design, permitting and final design. Phase two will include bidding and construction. The city of Gastonia will continue to conduct public outreach efforts such as publishing public notices regarding the project activity and implementation progress. The city has directly partnered with organizations such as Catawba Riverkeeper, a local, community-based conservation non-profit. Additionally, the city has coordinated with the Gaston-Cleveland-Lincoln Metropolitan Planning Organization to study multimodal uses along Duharts Creek.