Construction is underway on a major infrastructure project in Atlantic City, designed for stormwater management in the city’s neighborhoods, according to a recent announcement from the City of Atlantic City. The $22 million Baltic Avenue Canal improvement project will reactivate the Baltic Canal built in 1912, which drains 775 acres of the city that stretches from south of the Atlantic City Expressway to Absecon Inlet and serves portions of the Ducktown, Westside, Midtown, Bungalow Park and Inlet neighborhoods.
The canal is 9,700 feet long, over 10 feet wide and 8 feet tall, and can store over 1.1 million cubic feet of stormwater when the floodgates are operational.
As part of the construction, six large pumps are being added to the Atlantis Avenue Flood Gate System to evacuate water during significant flooding events. The installation of the SCADA, or Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system, will allow for automation from remote locations. Screening systems are being installed at both the Atlantis Avenue and Fisherman’s Park pump stations. These systems are designed to remove all litter prior to discharge into the back bay waterways.
“This has been on the drawing board for years, and we’re excited to see it finally happening,” Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. said. “This project will go a long way in preventing nuisance flooding in our neighborhoods, ultimately improving the quality of life for our residents and businesses. The great city of Atlantic City will become even more resilient, thanks to yet another strong partnership between the city and state and federal agencies.”
The canal has two outlet structures; one located at Atlantis Avenue and Beach Thorofare, and one located at an open canal at Fisherman’s Park. Timber floodgates were originally designed to help control stormwater collected on Atlantic, Arctic and Baltic avenues and surrounding streets. In the past, during high tide events, the gates were closed in order to prevent the tide from entering the system and flooding the streets of Atlantic City. By the 1960s, the timber floodgates on each end of the canal were destroyed and were not operational until a few years ago. In 2018, new 10-foot-wide stainless-steel sluice gates with titanium bolts and a bronze connector were installed on each end of the canal, and two pumps were added at the Fisherman’s Park site.
The city secured grants from an array of sources for this project, including the U.S. Economic Development Agency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Rutala Associates, a local planning firm, worked with the city to secure funding for this massive project.
