Woman’s New Life Center
The civil engineers were tasked with managing and treating 1,000 cubic feet of stormwater runoff within a 1,200 square foot area, most of which is a parking surface.
...THE DIFFERENT IS IN THE RETURN ON INVESTMENT
Project Background
Queenston Manor Apartments sits on a 7.2 acre parcel of land located adjacent to a master planned community on Houston’s northwest side. When Academy Development originally planned the construction of an apartment complex on this site, the economic model required that nine apartment buildings be built in order to generate the required revenue stream. Operating under the premise that all of their detention had been accounted for offsite in the surrounding master planned development, the project came to a screeching halt when it was determined by the County that the volume presumably set aside was no longer available for use by the apartment site. The engineers at EHRA, Inc. rescued this project with Low Impact Development (LID) and the FocalPoint High Performance Modular Biofiltration System (HPMBS)
Why Use Low Impact Development?
Faced with the harsh reality that this project might no longer be viable due to the amount of site area which would otherwise be lost to a detention pond, the engineering firm of Edminster, Hinshaw, Russ and Associates (EHRA) asked Academy Development if they would be open to a Low Impact Development-based design. The objective would be to reduce peak flows and thereby decrease total detention volume under Harris County’s LID Design Guide which requires post and pre-development hydrograph matching. Doing so would allow the developer to recapture the real estate that would have to be occupied by detention facility in the traditional design, and make the site viable for apartment construction once again. EHRA redesigned the project with extensive use of porous pavers in parking stalls, a directly infiltrated underground detention system fed by the porous paver system, vegetated swales and vegetated depressions throughout the common areas which drain through a series of small, decentralized FocalPoint HPMBS. The design team was able to decrease the surface storage volume requirements for the property enough to reclaim the property needed to build two additional apartment buildings and save the project. For the developers, the 48 additional apartment units meant the difference between success and a cancelled project.
FocalPoint High Performance Modular Biofiltration System (HPMBS)
The FocalPoint HPMBS is a combination of a high performance, open cell underdrain, a clog-proof bridging mesh, bridging stone, and a high performance biofiltration media that flows at a rate of over 100” per hour. What this unique combination of parts creates is a system that provides unsurpassed water quality and drainage characteristics. For the purpose of Queenston Manor Apartments, reliability was an important element in that all of the drainage areas are also common areas and courtyards. It was imperative that the system could be relied upon to drain as designed so that within 24 hours of a rain event, there would be no standing water. By placing the HPMBS at the lowest elevation in the four landscaped swale systems on site, we were able to give Queenston Manor a reliable drainage and water quality solution.
Quality Solutions
The Queenston Manor Apartments boast extraordinary amenities including a full service bar on site as well as an infinity pool. One of the most impressive and unique features of the site, however is the use of Low Impact Development practices throughout the property.
OUR LID CASE STUDIES
Springwoods Village
Many Low Impact Development Practices were used, including bioretention, bioswales, vegetated structural roadway shoulders, permeable pavers and rainwater harvesting and reuse.
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Queenston Manor
Working with Construction EcoServices, the engineers at EHRA, Inc. rescued this project using Low Impact Development (LID).
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NOLA Science School
Structural soil cells from Citygreen, called Stratavault, were chosen to provide 50,000 CF of soil for all the trees in the park. Stratavault is a modular design that provides structural support for...
Merritt Road
Traditional bioretention was not feasible with the limited area for treatment and long-term maintenance, leaving the engineers with a decision to use FocalPoint High Flow Biofiltration.
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Martinez Professional Office Buildings
The engineers were able to take advantage of using Harris County’s Low Impact Development (LID) regulations by increasing the time of concentration of storm water on this site.
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Kolbe Farms
The LID solution nearly eliminated the need for a detention pond altogether and in the process gained three additional lots, or 15% more homes.
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Houston Parks Board
Within the swales are a series of forebays that pond stormwater behind earthen berms, at the bottoms of which are 10” pipes that allow low flows through and extend time of concentration for larger...
Harris County Precinct 4
Harris County Precinct 4 decided to go with developing their new service center as a Low Impact Development site to implement the allowable practices in the counties Low Impact Development Design Manual...
Gretna City Hall
Within the swales are a series of forebays that pond stormwater behind earthen berms, at the bottoms of which are 10” pipes that allow low flows through and extend time of concentration for larger...
Double Tree Ranch Park
The unpredictable and frequent storms, combined with clay soils, forced the design team to create a solution that would perform under extreme conditions while keeping the long-term maintenance costs...
Dallas Street
If the City of Ennis was going to invest heavily into a pedestrian friendly roadway, they needed to ensure the trees would survive and reach full maturity.
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Centennial Park
Structural soil cells from Citygreen, called Stratavault, were chosen to provide 50,000 CF of soil for all the trees in the park. Stratavault is a modular design that provides structural support for...
Bullard Medical Center
How did PowerBlock serve the function of a detention pond, drainage inlet and a water quality unit on this project?
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Bryant Park in NOLA
A vacant lot next on the corner of Tchoupitoulas and Calliope was going to be a challenge to develop into a new eatery and bar in the Warehouse District. The surrounding environment isn’t the most...
Birnamwood Drive – Overview
Utilizing a dry swale as the primary conveyance feature, the design team explored the various biofiltration medias available for filtering pollutants.
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Birnamwood Drive – Details
Within the swales are a series of forebays that pond stormwater behind earthen berms, at the bottoms of which are 10” pipes that allow low flows through and extend time of concentration for larger...
FEATURED LID PRODUCT
The modular Stratavault system employs advanced design geometry and reinforced copolymers to produce an incredibly robust, skeletal matrix. This matrix has been tested by Finite Element Analysis, as well as physical Ultimate Load tests at university. These test results have been verified by consulting engineers to provide adequate support for pavement loads
THE WHY!
Why Choose Us?
Established in 2002, we provide our clients a proven, systematic approach and a reliable experienced team that can take all compliance logistical burdens off your shoulders. What could make your life simpler? One call. One point of contact. New project launches simplified. Compliance simplified. Compliance assured.
Other key reasons to choose us:
- We provide the most appropriate, cost-effective, and innovative solutions
- Our experience and expertise is the fundamental “product” our clients buy
- We focus on our customer’s success
- Our high degree of integrity
- Our ability to customize and problem solve
- All our field crew are OSHA 30
- We are agents of stormwater change
If achieving the highest level of compliance while reducing risk and lowering costs is important to you, then let’s work together. We provide full turnkey stormwater management consulting and solutions. All field crew are OSHA 30 certified.
Tell us about your project and get a quick quote.
Stormwater: Why Care?
Stormwater management may seem like a relatively new industry, but it has actually been around since the Roman times. They knew, even back then, that managing stormwater runoff was a key issue to urban living. With poor stormwater management, both flooding and disease constantly wreaked havoc in ancient cities.
Not much has changed since then, except now, with more and more of the earth being covered over with cement and other impervious surfaces, the negative effects of poor stormwater management have increased exponentially. Our natural water supplies are at risk due to pollution and their lack of ability to recharge. The flowing of our waterways are at risk from erosion, sediment build up, and trash. And, our marine life is at risk, from all the chemicals finding their way into bodies of water.
Some may see stormwater management as just another unnecessary and unwanted cost to construction projects or property ownership and management. But, understanding the negative effects that poor or no stormwater management is causing should be a concern to us all. It affects where we live and play. It affects our marine-based food supply. It affects our dwindling water supply.
We care. It is why we do what we do.
