Hart Ditch Two-Stage Channel
Team Members Heading link
- Alexander Baron
- Joey Difronzo
- Joseph Dlugi
- Stefan Prem
- Patricia Zareba
Project Description Heading link
Hart Ditch flows through the town of Dyer, Indiana, and has been a source of flooding for many years. Upstream of the Indiana-Illinois state line, Hart Ditch is known as Plum Creek. The Hart Ditch/Plum Creek Watershed is approximately 30 square miles in area. Historically, the creek flowed to a marsh in Munster, Indiana. It was not until the 1880’s when a man by the name of Aaron Hart built a channelized ditch which drained to the Little Calumet River. More recently, due to an increase in rainfall and urbanization, the town of Dyer has suffered from major flooding events along the creek. Over the years, the flooding has caused large amounts of property damage. One of the most notable floods took place in 2008. This flood caused millions of dollars of property damage. To reduce the likelihood of this problem, a two-stage ditch system was proposed as a solution to create extra flood space for flood events. This extra flood storage will help reduce water levels on the Hart Ditch and prevent it from causing damage to nearby properties as well as benefit the local ecosystem. The Hart Ditch two-stage channel project aims to provide an economically friendly approach toward solving the town of Dyer’s flooding problem. A plan for the proposed two-stage channel will be designed using Geographic Information System(GIS) software and analyzed using HEC-RAS hydraulic modeling. The design of the two-stage channel will follow proper engineering codes and regulations and in accordance with the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, the Indiana Department of Environmental Management, and the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers (USACE). The design objectives will be achieved through the use of modeling and extensive research in order to construct the most efficient and cost-effective two-ditch channel.