By Mike Finney

SOUTH BOWERS BEACH — The project that Delaware Department of Transportation officials shared with Gov. John Carney on South Bowers Road just off the Delaware Bay on Wednesday afternoon is not even one mile long.

However, if DelDOT’s innovative process prevents this small stretch of road from regularly flooding, the technology could eventually help address similar concerns encompassing many miles along Del. 9, and at places such as Woodland Beach and Prime Hook, among other areas along the coastline.

Funding for the South Bowers Road project will come from the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, championed by Sens. Tom Carper and Chris Coons and Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester, and signed into law by President Joe Biden.

“This kind of experimentation is a priority in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill,” Gov. Carney said, of the South Bowers Road project. “There’s additional money for innovative projects, for which this is one.”

The bipartisan legislation reauthorizes surface transportation programs for five years and invests $110 billion in additional funding to repair roads and bridges and supports major, transformational projects.

“I think when you talk about infrastructure and resiliency requirements with sea rise coming, particularly in the low-lying states, innovative projects like this are going to be really important for us,” Gov. Carney said. “First, we need to understand what the problems are.

“Obviously, we have lots of documentation — we didn’t come out here randomly — and then plan to address (the problems) in an innovative way. So, we’re looking for a solution to this problem out here and we’ll see how it works.”

On a chilly and windy afternoon, Jim Pappas, the director of DelDOT’s one-year-old Transportation Resiliency and Sustainability Division, explained to the governor the department’s plans for addressing the frequently flooded section of road that follows a small bridge into South Bowers Beach.

DelDOT plans to lay three inches of a porous asphalt material on top of the existing roadway and then layer another one to two inches on top of that layer which will increase the height of the road by five inches.

The porous asphalt should push any water to the sides of the roadway, which will alleviate regular flooding due to tides and should also help during some coastal storm events.

“This is a first of its kind, really anywhere,” DelDOT Secretary Nicole Majeski said. “It’s a new material that we’re going to be using which is a lighter, porous material, that’s going to help funnel the water a little bit better.

“So, we’re testing it out here and if we’re successful we’ll have other locations across the state we’ll be able to help out.”

It could also help South Bowers Beach residents remain connected if the raised stretch of road can alleviate flooding during storms, allowing them to continue to receive mail service and get their children on school buses, while having access to emergency services and such.

“When I come out to look at projects like this, I think about what they mean to the people who live in this community,” Gov. Carney said. “That’s what drives us to do this.”

The type of project that will be taking place on South Bowers Road fits right into the criteria set forth by the Climate Framework Report, released by the state in 2014.

“DelDOT manages a wide range of technologies for monitoring traffic flow, road conditions, and potential hazards,” the report said. “Transportation engineers are evaluating ways to expand the existing systems by adding sensors that measure water levels, speed, and volumes, as well as reviewing the roadway weather information system parameters and quality data to support climate analysis.

“By improving data collection and analysis, planners will be able to make better predictions of flooding hazards and precipitation patterns, provide early-warning information to local emergency managers, and prepare for adjustments to traffic flows, such as detours and evacuation routes.”