ADOT digs debris out of catch basins to prep for monsoon rains
Jun 13, 2019, 4:31 AM | Updated: 6:48 am
CHANDLER — It’s hot, but the Arizona Department of Transportation is working while it’s still dry to clean out its catch basins, so monsoon rains won’t flood freeways later this summer.
One basin along the the east 101 Loop near Warner Road in Chandler leads the water to the pump station.
“They turn on, as water builds up in the pump station, to deliver that water away from the area,” spokesman Doug Nintzel told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Wednesday.
Nintzel led a media tour 50 feet under the freeway. Crews shoveled freeway debris and dirt that collected along the grate so storm water can move through.
“And ultimately, it’s going toward some of our normally dry river beds,” Nintzel said.
Crews pulled a year’s worth of trash and muck — 18,000 gallons — from the collection basin.
“If you have a pickup truck, and the litter is flying out of the bed of that pickup truck, it has to go somewhere,” Nintzel said.
“Oftentimes, it’s into the freeway drainage system.”
He urges drivers to secure their loads and keep their trash in their cars and trucks.
ADOT cleans its 59 collection centers year-round to prevent freeway flooding.