FEATURE ARTICLE Grout injection at the face of the steel sheet piling Improving the Soil Stability of Flood Control Culverts Under Amtrak Rails The City of Meriden, Connecticut, located between the regional cities of New Haven and Hartford, had been fighting chronic flooding issues in its downtown area for years, causing millions of dollars in damage. Harbor Brook waterway was blamed as the origin of many of the past flood events including water on roads and in basements after big storms and heavy winter runoff. Harbor Brook is located near an Amtrak railway bridge off Hanover Street and the tracks pass through the middle of the community and over a 120-year-old bridge. After research and discussion, the city AUTHORS Chris Hamilton, DLVEWS (formerly with Avanti) and Jessica Williams, Avanti DEEP FOUNDATIONS * JULY/AUG 2023 * 103 determined two large steel drainage pipe culverts would be installed underneath the tracks near the former Church & Morse building on South Colony Street to help alleviate excess water in the event of a rain event. This would be a challenging project as the drainage pipe culverts would be pushed just feet underneath the live tracks of the known Amtrak Bridge MP18. The bridge structure provided limited clearance above Harbor Brook due to its deep plate-girder design, which presented obstacles to stormwater flow. To get the job done, the city contracted Empire Paving.