Flooding at the Dry Stone Bridge

I never even thought of checking out the Perth Dry Stone Bridge after our heavy rains (Oct. 28/29). Hubby noticed. I should have. They had to close the bridge, afterwards. The water has gone down some, but it seems to have withstood the power of the water. I wish I'd gone to witness it. The power of the water is not to be ignored. (The May Flooding in Perth, Lanark County was terrible.)

After the Flooding 

The Tay River flows through Perth, winding its way through town, except after this last rain. The Tay splits around Haggart Isl., we took Yam to visit: Yam's Visit to Southeastern Ontario.


The grass is gone, and they are trying to keep the soil intact! We had 100+ mm rain in October, over three days! The Tay is a pretty river, that wends its way around the town. They closed the foot bridge, too. I wonder what the people who live on this island did! There is a heritage home.


More rain on Sunday...Nov. 5th, we went back. It's down a tad, but not enough.

The 'Before' Photos

The photos below are from Sept., 2016 => Dry Stone Legacy Bridge in Perth, after the bridge was first completed. The grass is gone. The water still quite high.  It was Nov. 2015 it was refurbished. Haggart Isl. Dam and Bridge repair on the Tay River


Then, back in May, it was a mess with the spring melt, and the heavy rains. This is highly unusual for Perth! It's not as bad as May, see below, but I'm glad the bridge was untouched.


The power of the water is amazing.
Perth Dry Stone Bridge from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Flooding in Perth, Ontario

It's a mess in town. The water is slowly receding, but it built back up after the flooding during the spring melt and heavy rains. We've had massive amounts of water. This is from May 9th. 

It's still not back to normal on Riverside Rd.

This is the Tay River. Behind the Crystal Palace it is very wet. The water was creeping up onto the road.

Then, there is the Dry Stone Heritage Bridge. 

Riverside Dr., along to Canal Road was swamped with water.  The problem with our region is that the land is filled with swamps and wetlands. The wetlands are on flood plains. 

Experts have been saying that we must get better at determining where we allow people to build. These 100-year floods will continue. It makes no sense to rebuild homes in these areas. Taxpayers foot the bill in federal disaster assistance. A billion dollars on an annual basis across Canada, 3/4 of this is caused by flooding. 

Flood planning: Why we get it wrong time after time

What do we do wrong about floods? A professor at Western University who specializes in natural disasters was at a loss where to start.

• outdated flood plain maps
• too slow a response
• poor decisions for rebuilds
• lack of preventative measures, e.g., berms, as they did in Calgary.

Calgary discouraged redevelopment in risky areas after the have tried after the 2013 floods, to reduce the risks. Other things they can do is redo the flood maps, as flooding patterns have changed. 

This is Last Duel Park.

May 16 2017

Christie Lake sees flooding beyond living memory

Perth Courier  0 Comments by Desmond Devoy