Keeping Volusia Dry: Road & Bridge Teams Lead the Fight Against Flooding

Posted On: March 30, 2026

From Pierson to Oak Hill, crews from Volusia County's Road & Bridge Division and its stormwater team have been quietly waging a countywide campaign to keep neighborhoods above water – one canal, one culvert, and one ditch at a time.

The work is relentless and unglamorous, but its impact is real. Every year, Road & Bridge crews fan out across unincorporated Volusia County to clean, reshape, and restore the stormwater infrastructure that protects thousands of homes and roadways during Florida's punishing rain seasons.

Among this year’s highlights: Crews deployed specialized "spider" walking excavators – machines capable of navigating steep slopes and difficult terrain – to restore open channels in Highridge Estates in Daytona Beach and near State Road 44 in New Smyrna Beach. These articulated workhorses can access areas conventional equipment simply cannot reach, allowing teams to remove built-up sediment and debris while minimizing environmental disturbance.

Elsewhere, crews replaced aging culvert pipes in Port Orange and South Daytona, performed ditch maintenance from DeLeon Springs to Osteen, rehabilitated stormwater retention ponds in Orange City, and cleared the LPGA Canal in Holly Hill of overgrowth that threatened drainage capacity. In Ormond-by-the-Sea, a routine inspection uncovered a failing drainage pipe – crews replaced it on the spot before it could become a bigger problem.

The division's West Side Stormwater Structures Maintenance Crew has also been conducting quarterly cleaning of nutrient-reducing baffle boxes – underground systems that capture trash, debris, and pollutants before they reach local waterways, protecting water quality while also reducing the risk of street flooding.

Road & Bridge Director Lori Koontz said the breadth of the effort reflects the division's commitment to staying ahead of the problem.

"Our crews understand that this work isn't just about maintaining infrastructure – it's about protecting people's homes and their peace of mind," Koontz said. "Every ditch we clean, every culvert we replace, every canal we restore is one less place where floodwaters can build up and cause harm. Our team takes that responsibility seriously every single day."

The stormwater work is part of a broader countywide flood resilience strategy that includes major capital investments, watershed studies, and collaborative projects with municipal partners. To learn more, visit volusia.org/stormwater.