“In 2017, when we started work on bridge and culvert projects, specifications for restoring a streambed around bridges and culverts didn’t exist,” he says. Now 100 projects use a specification SLR helped MassDOT develop, resulting in a major change in how projects are managed, he says.

“MassDOT was starting to think about right sizing of culverts and bridges and roadways and expanded from there,” Shiff recalls.

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RELATED

Vermont Dam Removal Program Reclaims Floodplain 

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MassDOT crews recently used river management principles to right-size a stream crossing for a $4.8 million road reconstruction project in New Braintree, Mass. that included replacing two deck bridges and two undersized culverts.
Photo courtesy of MassDOT

Major flooding throughout New England in 2023 and 2024 –including the Leominster, Mass. flood that dumped 9.5 in of rain in six hours—has spiked many river questions and a renewed interest in flood mitigation with an interest in innovative infrastructure upgrades, says Shiff. Towns, cities, regional commissions, states, and federal agencies have questions about how to be more resilient and keep safe from flooding, he says.

Rivers and Roads training courses includes Tier 1, an introductory online training, an introduction to fluvial geomorphology (river process and form); Tier 2, a one-day course including a classroom session with flume table demonstrations to explain principles of fluvial geomorphology, field work to learn field assessment techniques and visit relevant projects, and Tier 3, a one-day course to support project review and implementation.

"The MassDOT Rivers and Roads training was a great refresher on basic hydrology and aligns with the Army Corps of Engineers Stream Standards guidance, says Robert Tyler, PWS, ecological scientist/associate at the Boston-headquartered BSC Group. The program "clearly connects the science behind MassDOT’s updated culvert replacement approach with practical field instruction on the ecological and survey-based work required to implement it correctly."

 As the MassDOT training becomes standard across the state, it will reap the benefits of “hydrologically sound and climate resilient culverts that protect infrastructure, strengthen ecosystems, and deliver long-term benefits for Massachusetts.” He added that “the success of the training will depend on whether the practice is rolled out as a mandatory requirement and consistently enforced."

The training offered statewide is sponsored by MassDOT and other partners including the Massachusetts Dept. of Environmental Protection and the Division of Fisheries and Wildlife.

In addition to online training, in-person training is available three to four times a year through the University of Massachusetts Baystate Roads for agencies, cities and towns, consulting engineers or scientists. More than 500 people have participated since the pandemic with 90 to 100 participants per year, Paulson says. “It’s bringing regulatory agencies, engineers, scientists, planners, and the local Dept. of Public Works people into the same room, creating a good baseline for developing resilient projects,” he says.

The course presents up-to-date science and resources available, including GIS data with guidance on how to use it. MassDOT is also preparing to publish a PDF field manual in spring with river-science terminology and explanation of principles for quick reference.

Students participated in a Tier 2 one-day course, including a classroom session with flume table demonstrations about principles of fluvial geomorphology (river process and form) in Westfield, Mass. in 2024.
Photo courtesy of MassDOT

Through the Baystate Roads program, MassDOT is aiming to empower its partners, including small towns with scarer resources, to learn how to mitigate road conflicts or avoid them, Paulson says.

Staci Pomeroy, a river scientist for the Vermont Dept. of Conservation, who spearheaded work with MassDOT on the River and Roads efforts, says collaboration between Vermont and Massachusetts benefits the region “through continued efforts to train road crews, contractors, consultants, and others working on rivers during flood emergencies and on day-to-day efforts on how to improve flood resiliency and maintain good river process and reduced habitat impacts.”

Such partnering between Massachusetts and Vermont transportation and environmental agencies is spurring innovative flood resiliency improvements for Massachusetts roads projects and training informed by river science.

While impossible to right size all bridges and culverts in Massachusetts at once, MassDOT is taking steps to upgrade and enhance the resilience of infrastructure based on evolving standards, says John Goggin, MassDOT spokesman.

David Paulson, supervisor, wildlife and endangered species unit at MassDOT says, “Culverts and bridges are where we have the greatest opportunity to incorporate resiliency improvements in our road networks.”

MassDOT better sizes culverts and bridges to adequately handle river and stream flows associated with severe inland precipitation events.

“We strive to achieve the state’s 1.2 x bankfull [discharge] width [of streams] standard for hydraulic openings,” Paulson says.

The agency also typically provides riprap scour protection covered up by a more natural streambed layer. “Sometimes rock vanes and boulder deflectors are strategically used to deflect high flows away from bridge abutments and roadway embankments,” he says.

In New Braintree, Mass., MassDOT crews used river management principles to right-size a stream crossing for a $4.8 million road reconstruction project completed in July, Goggin says.

Before construction began in 2023, “the undersized culverts managed the flow of water with one culvert unable to process the flow at least twice during severe precipitation events in recent years,” he says.

Rivers and Roads Tier 2 students learned to measure stream profiles and bankful width during field work in Princeton, Mass. in 2023.
Courtesy of MassDOT

The project delivered two new deck bridges adequately sized to pass flood flows, as well as fish and wildlife, and was built to Massachusetts River and Stream Crossing Standards. In addition to replacing the two bridges and town-owned culverts, the project restored the streambed and bank habitat, and improved upstream fish passage for trout and other cold-water species.

Through MassDOT's newly established Community Culvert Grant Program, municipalities and tribal governments may apply for funding toward a range of culvert resiliency projects.

MassDOT also used river science to inform the design of two failing retaining wall projects, Paulson says. On one project along Rt. 116 in Conway, Mass. and another on Rt. 9 in Cunningham, Mass. near Springfield on the west branch of the Westfield River, where the road and the river in tight alignment create “valley constraints,” Paulson says. “We were able to reset the retaining wall in a way to create some additional width within the floodplain bench to increase capacity.”

In a narrow section of the river with the road on one side, where the water rushes through, the MassDOT team created more floodplain and reduced water velocity by designing the retaining wall to offset it further away from the river and closer to the road.