When CubeSmart℠, the fourth largest owner and operator of self-storage facilities in the country, decided to expand its presence in east Whiteland, Penn., they chose a CULTEC stormwater system to detain excess stormwater and allow for infiltration in accordance with both township and state regulations. The system included Recharger 330XL®, one of the largest chamber sizes available.

CubeSmart℠, the fourth largest U.S. owner and operator of self-storage facilities in the country according to the 2011 Self Storage Almanac, is a self-administered and self-managed real estate company focused on the ownership, operation, acquisition and development of self-storage facilities.

Its self-storage facilities are designed to offer affordable, easily accessible, secure, and, in most locations, climate-controlled storage space for residential and commercial customers, as well as boat storage and mini storage.

Recently, the organization chose to expand its presence in Pennsylvania by opening a location in East Whiteland. Originally, the town envisioned the site would consist entirely of office space, but when CubeSmart chose to purchase the space, the company decided to relocate its corporate headquarters here and use the other half for storage. The space includes Class-A offices for 160 employees currently operating out of the Wayne, Penn. office, as well as self-storage facilities.

Engineers from Nave Newell, Inc., based in King of Prussia, Penn., were tasked with designing the new location, which would include the installation of a stormwater management system. The engineering team collaborated with contractors at Lyons & Hohl Site Contractors to develop the new layout for the site, and was faced with a number of onsite challenges when designing the stormwater management system. The engineers had to overcome a 60' topographic grade in order to establish the building pad and parking area.

Engineers selected the CULTEC stormwater system to detain, or temporarily store excess stormwater onsite, and allow for infiltration in accordance with both Township and State regulations. Since the site is located atop a steep bluff, engineers had to be very careful in establishing the discharge location. Runoff could not be discharged directly over the side of the bluff for fear of erosion down the slope.

"We knew that any consistent flow of runoff going over the side of the bluff would eventually cause it to erode and set other potential dangers in motion," said Alex Tweedie, Nave Newell Design Engineer. "In order to prevent any chance of erosion, a pipe was extended outside of the area to create a discharge site that would be able to adequately receive the runoff."

Given the constrictions of the site terrain and the storage requirement of 93,397 cubic feet, Nave Newell engineers chose to install CULTEC's Recharger 330XL® model for the system. With a capacity of over 400 gallons, this CULTEC chamber is one of the largest available. It provided a balance of maximizing storage while using a small footprint, and best satisfied the requirements of the CubeSmart site. The unit is 52 inches wide by 30.5 inches high and has an installed length of 7.5 feet long with a bare chamber capacity of 7.5 cubic feet per linear foot. Because of its size, the chamber can help save land space and offer design flexibility. In all, the subsurface CULTEC system provided 94,319 cubic feet of storage.

For more information about CULTEC stormwater management chambers and other products, please call 203-775-4416 or visit www.cultec.com.