Title
SW 7th Exfiltration Study Engineering Contract (NB)
Explanation
In the 2005 CPUH Redevelopment Plan, stormwater infrastructure was cited as a major objective for continuing redevelopment of the area. To address this, the CRA and Public Works departments hired Jones Edmunds and Associates to perform a comprehensive study of the Tumblin Creek Watershed with the purpose of identifying problem areas and outlining potential solutions to improve stormwater quantity and quality in the CPUH area. The Tumblin’ Creek Watershed Management Plan (TCWMP), completed in late 2007, is a product of this study.
The TCWMP specifically identified underground storage and exfiltration of stormwater as a potential solution to providing quantity and quality attenuation in dense urban areas. The concept of creating underground vaults to collect, hold, and slowly release stormwater into the ground is rapidly becoming popular as an urban design solution. Several re-development projects in Gainesville have installed, or are planning to install, this type of system beneath building foundations where little land is available for above-ground retention ponds (i.e., Heritage Oaks and The Palms). However, despite the promising solution of an underground exfiltration system for urban stormwater design, there have been no projects to install sub-regional collection systems underneath roadways. In this type of application, an underground vault is installed beneath the roadway as part of a roadway improvements project. The system would have the ability to service stormwater for a large area that has already undergone development, before stormwater rules were implemented. This type of application has the potential to attenuate the quantity and quality of stormwater in dense urban areas that have no land available for sub-regional retention ponds.
The TCWMP listed several potential locations for exfiltration systems to be integrated in already developed areas, with the objective to ...
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