More Water Table Trouble for Amherst Neighbors in Margate?

margate amherst ave mathis

Amherst Ave in Margate. Expensive homes, side by side, on top of shifting sands and wobbly water-tables.

Better be careful with digging up those streets. Too deep… and you could cause a road collapse. Area flooding could actually get worse.

Amherst residents want Margate to fix flooding issues. LISTEN TO AUDIO >

August 19, 2021

Bulldozers and back hoes ripping up asphalt and concrete. Replacing old drainage infrastructure. A gnarly, noisy, multi-month disruption of residential streets.

By using heavy equipment and possibly digging too deep work, many homes were damaged by the street project. Some severely. Portions of the street caved in. A so-called ‘water table’ surprise.

Residents still fighting the insurance company of city chosen contractor, Mathis Construction. Taxpayers looking for fair compensation in order to repair cracked foundations and walls. So far, insurance offers have been described as ‘laughable’.

Was it a Margate City Engineer issue, or contractor (Mathis Construction) issue?

Will City of Margate assist homeowners with financial / legal assistance?

Margate Amherst Ave Street Drainage Project.

The engineer cut holes in the bottom of pre-fab, storm water catch bin? Making it a french drain? Resident Dennis: They didn’t measure water level. Water comes in from underneath into storm drain. Drain never properly configured for water table. There’s water at both low and high tide. During a storm, water fills up immediately and floods the road.

Design and construction, it’s ridiculous. It will never work. Going to blacktop the road and leave a project like that? It’s a disgrace.

Amherst Resident

Commissioner Amodeo: Our engineer (Ed Dennis) designed it. When the streets get paved, water will drain off the street. Resident Dennis disagrees. It will not. You already have water in the drains. A foot or two.

Resident Dennis: Construction dropped the street by 6 inches. Casements placed in the ground. Trying to use it like a french drain. They never measured the water table. During a July 9 storm, it flooded the entire neighborhood between Douglas and Clarendon. Entire neighborhoods that never had water, now get flooded.

Commissioner Amodeo: we live on a barrier island. If it’s high tide, you’re going to get flooding.

Resident Dennis: The water used to drain out. Now, there’s 2-3 feet of water standing, even with no recent rain. Where’s it coming from?

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