In a letter to the US Army Corps of Engineers and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara, a civil engineer, is urging immediate research and implementation of ice jam prevention measures in the Schenectady area.

In the letter Santabarbara notes the hardships affected Schenectady residents have been forced to live with year after year due to frequent ice jams and flooding, specifically in the historic Stockade district. Additionally, he states that Schenectady County Community College has seen its share of property damage and cleanup costs. “The cost to research the options and implement the most effective measures can save millions in future recovery efforts, clean-up costs and infrastructure repairs,” said Santabarbara.

During his 15 year career as a civil engineer, Santabarbara worked on updating studies on the Mohawk River, working with a River Analysis System developed by the Hydrologic Engineering Center in Davis, California (HEC-RAS). According to historical data, ice jams mostly occur in the same places each year because of structures in the river that block normal flow, or sometimes at sharp turns where the water changes direction. “Here in Schenectady, the railroad bridge near the train station is where the ice gets stuck; past the bridge the water is clear,” Santabarbara said.

Ice jams like the one in Schenectady, caused by rain and snowmelt, are called “breakup jams”. As the water rises in the river, large chunks of ice along the river bank break off and accumulate as they float down the river. This typically happens when temperatures drop enough to form a thick layer of ice on top of the water and then proceed to warm up quickly.

“As a civil engineer, I know how 21st century engineering and technology can help solve problems like this,” said Assemblyman Angelo Santabarbara. “In fact, there are a number of measures that have been used to help mitigate ice jams in other areas of the northeast where similar problems have occurred,” Santabarbara said, citing a project completed by the US Army Corps of Engineers and Department of Environmental Conservation in 2004 that installed an ice jam-prevention system in a flood-prone section of the Cazenovia Creek, southwest of Buffalo.

According to The US Army Corps of Engineers Ice Jam Database, 25 of the 100 ice jams tracked this year are in New York State. “The Schenectady area has a long history of ice jams,” said Assemblyman Santabarbara. “This is an issue that has affected generations of families and businesses and is something that must be addressed,” Santabarbara added. “It is possible to get ahead of the problem; however, it will take an investment in infrastructure that is long overdue.”