Atlantic City project will reactivate Baltic Ave Canal

A $22 million infrastructure project for stormwater management in Atlantic City's neighborhoods has begun.

The Baltic Avenue Canal improvement project will reactivate the canal built in 1912, which drains 775 acres of the city, stretching from south of the Atlantic City Expressway to Absecon Inlet.

“This has been on the drawing board for years, and we’re excited to see it finally happening,” Mayor Marty Small 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,” he added.

The canal that can store more than 1.1 million cubic feet of stormwater when the floodgates are operation serves portions of the Ducktown, Westside, Midtown, Bungalow Park, and Inlet neighborhoods.

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 flood gates were originally designed to help control stormwater collected on Atlantic, Arctic and Baltic avenues and surrounding streets.

Six large pumps are being added to the Atlantis Avenue Flood Gate System to evacuate water during significant flooding events as part of the project.

The installation of the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition, or SCADA, 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.

The gates were closed during high-tide events in the past in order to prevent the tide from entering the system and flooding the streets. By the 1960s, the timber flood gates 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 project.