OU Floods

Today at Ohio University, we don't have to be too worried about our campus buildings flooding. However, that wasn't always the case. From the 1940's to the 1960's, Ohio University's campus had major flooding problems because of the Hocking River. Students basically expected a flood every year and it wasn't a surprise once one hit them.

During these twenty years, low parts of the city and most of OU's campus would experience as much as a 30 foot flood. However, the worst flood occured in 1907 when the Hocking River overflowed by 26 feet 7 inches, which is 10 feet above the flood stage. Another very serious flood occurred in 1964. A picture of this flood can be seen here. The floods got so bad that people would call OU's baseball fields the "OU Aquarium".

For years, the city struggled with plans of how to stop the flooding. Proposals for dams an levees were too expensive, adding up to millions of dollars. In 1940, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began surveys to try and solve the issue, but this was delayed due to the start of World War II. Their plan was to reroute the Hocking River. At this time, the river ran through OU's golf course, under the Richland Bridge, and between West Green and West Union Street. The president of OU at this time (Baker) didn't think rerouting the river was possible. He stated that he wouldn't live long enough to see it done.

When Alden became president, he began to push the idea to reroute the river, especially since damages were approximately $610,000 at this point. Gym floors would be warped, the football stadium was completely covered, and even reached the balconies on the Riverpark Apartments on South Green. In 1964, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began to plan once again. They decided to rechannel Hocking, but without using levees because they didn't want to interfere with the possible expansion of the city. The proposed plan was to reroute 5.5 miles of the river, which would shorten the river by 1,400 feet. It was also going to cost about $10 million. During Alden's last year was when they were able to accomplish rerouting the Hocking River.

Today, students don't have to be concerned about yearly floods and having difficulty getting to classes, and the administration doesn't have to deal with thousands of dollars worth of damage.

Works Cited:
The Athens News; "Rechanneling river discouraged yearly floods"; Marietta, Alexander; December 13, 2010