Milwaukee Rising

County detention pond wall sections wash away

May 6 -- Sections of the stormwater detention basins under construction on the Milwaukee County Grounds washed away last week, and Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District officials are exploring ways to repair them.

Damage at the detention basins -- parts of the basin walls washed away last week.

MMSD is working with the project designer, HNTB, to both repair the damage to the detention basins and to figure out “what to do with all the water coming down that slope,” MMSD spokesman Bill Graffin said.

The basins, part of an $84 million flood control project, actually are washed out in two separate areas, and others appear to have been damaged by flowing water as well.

Graffin said the issue of who would pay for the repairs has not been resolved. If it is a design problem “we’ll have to pursue that,” he said.

Vegetation at the site has not had an opportunity to root and grow. The vegetation planted at the site will help a great deal to stabilize the slopes, Graffin said.