ABBOT – It appears that Abbot will receive assistance for flood control of the Piscataquis River from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Bob Russo and Mark Anderson, two engineers with the federal agency who visited Abbot last month, have recommended the agency proceed with a study to determine what can be done to correct the flooding problem on Back Road that damages hayfields and roadways.

“There will be no trucks or bulldozers there this year,” Russo said Wednesday, but the agency will begin an investigation into the problem. He said much assessment must be done before a solution is found. A preliminary team already has “kicked around” some ideas, he said. Dredging the river, as one town official believes is necessary, is among the considerations, he said.

“We are pleased that they’re going forward, and we just hope for some positive results,” Selectman Jan Ronco said Wednesday. She believes the riverbed has become too shallow to contain the water that flows down the river in early spring and during some winters. Heavy rains in December caused the ice-jammed river to flood its banks, leaving about $37,500 in damages to roads and properties in its wake this year.

Russo said the study would include an assessment of the affects of the flooding and the amount of river flow. The solution, which he believed would be determined this year, should be one that does no damage farther down the river, he said. He anticipated it would take about three years before the actual work plan could be conducted.

The Army Corps of Engineers became involved after former state Rep. Sharon Libby-Jones of Greenville solicited its help three years ago on behalf of the town.

Russo said that when Libby-Jones’ letter arrived in 2001 no federal funds were available for such assistance and the letter was filed. The letter resurfaced this year when funds became available to help communities with flood control and shoreline erosion control, he said.