A family of beavers living in an outfall pipe has delayed a major sewer improvement project along Riverside Drive in Cincinnati — and won itself a partial reprieve in the bargain, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer.
The Riverside Drive portion of the project is expected to be completed by the end of November, about a month later than originally projected, according to Deb Leonard, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Sewer District of Greater Cincinnati, who spoke to The Cincinnati Enquirer. Rain, underground utilities that had to be worked around and the beavers all contributed to the delays, the Enquirer reported.
“It’s been hard for drivers. They want the project done. But we’ve encountered delays because of rain, underground utilities that had to be worked around and this latest thing, which cost us a week,” Leonard told The Cincinnati Enquirer.
The “latest thing” was a lodge of beavers inhabiting an outfall pipe that runs under the Waterfront East Condominiums in Cincinnati’s East End, along the Ohio River, according to the Enquirer. The pipe discharges wastewater and stormwater runoff into the river, and the original plan was to abandon it and fill it with concrete, the Enquirer reported.
Before workers could proceed, the sewer district began receiving calls from condo residents and neighbors reporting beaver activity in and around the pipe, according to The Cincinnati Enquirer. “We put a camera into the pipe and surprised a beaver in action. We estimate there are five to seven beavers in the pipe,” Leonard told The Cincinnati Enquirer.
Moving the animals was not an option: Ohio law prohibits the relocation of beavers, raccoons, skunks, coyotes, red foxes and other animals to prevent the spread of diseases to new wildlife populations, the Enquirer reported.
So the district split the pipe instead. Workers will fill the portion that runs under the condos with concrete and leave the remainder open for the beavers to use, with work expected to begin later this week or early next week, according to Leonard’s account in The Cincinnati Enquirer. “We’re going to abandon 75% of the pipe and leave them [beavers] the bottom portion of the pipe so they can do their beaver thing and live their beaver lives,” she told The Cincinnati Enquirer. “We thought that was the best outcome.”
Nearby businesses are ready for the cones to go. David Hall, who opened Knuckles Deli on Riverside Drive near the project site in March, told The Cincinnati Enquirer he was “very relieved” the beaver problem has been mitigated and construction will be completed soon; he said his total receipts were cut by about 25% four months after opening as traffic congestion from the project, which started in July, kept downtown lunch customers away, according to the Enquirer.
What happens next: the partial pipe fill begins later this week or early next week, and the Riverside Drive work is expected to wrap up by the end of November, according to the Metropolitan Sewer District via The Cincinnati Enquirer — with five to seven beavers in residence in the portion of pipe left open for them.