I&M Canal through Gebhard Woods expected to have water by Monday, Sept. 16

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources told Morris Alderman Jim Black that they expect to have water in the I&M Canal in Gebhard Woods State Park by Monday, Sept. 16.

Black also said work on the aqueduct over Nettle Creek along the I&M Canal should be completed by Monday, Sept. 30.

“Having this done is not only nice for the residents of Morris, but also for the many people that come to visit our nice town,” Black said.

The I&M Canal aqueduct over Nettle Creek was built from 1845 to 1848 and lasted until flooding destroyed it in 2013. The flooding that day was so bad that it overtook many bridges in Grundy County, and the Illinois Department of Transportation had to bring in sand to create a dike to stop the water from rushing onto Illinois 47 near the bridge.

The storm that April day dropped around four inches of rain on Morris in about 24 hours, causing the Illinois River to rise to a Morris-record 24.91 feet, forcing evacuations of apartments and homes and leaving Morris Hospital with $1 million in flood damage and patient evacuations.

For reference, flood level for the Illinois River in Morris is 16 feet.

According to documents from the Illinois Association for Floodplain and Stormwater Management available at https://www.illinoisfloods.org/content/documents/1c-3-iafsm_nettle_creek_presentation_03132023.pdf, the deck, prism and eastern abutment were dismantled due to safety concerns, leaving parts of the western abutment remaining.

The contract to rebuild the aqueduct was awarded to D Construction in May 2022.