Landscape Architect Articles

Cultec System Solves Stormwater Challenges11-06-12 | News

Cultec System Solves Stormwater Challenges

Cultec's low profile Recharger???(R)???AE???? 280HD stormwater system was considered the best fit for BJ's Wholesale Club in Westborough, Mass., as its height effectively accommodated the high water table.

In early 2012, ground was broken for a new 125,000-sq.-ft. BJ's Wholesale Club located adjacent to the Kohl's shopping plaza in Brookfield, Conn. Engineers from RJ O'Connell & Associates, Inc. and contractors from Cherry Hill Construction designed a stormwater system to provide the site with retention and infiltration capabilities to prevent flooding to the surrounding areas.

The engineers faced a number stormwater management challenges. A high groundwater level at the 28.8-acre site, a minimum of three feet deep at the infiltration fields, was a major challenge because the site was positioned near wetlands, causing it to be easily saturated with water. Additionally, the new facility was in close proximity to a brook and a floodway, a channel for an overflow of water caused by flooding.

The engineers also had to be mindful of existing nearby structures when planning for stormwater solutions, as they would remain onsite and the existing drainage patterns had to be maintained.

Finally, the site was located within an aquifer protection district. This required that major public water supply wells in sand and gravel aquifers were protected to ensure a plentiful supply of public drinking water for present and future generations.

The engineers selected these chambers to capture the runoff onsite and release it in a controlled manner as well as allow for some infiltration into the ground. Each unit is 47 inches wide, 26.5 inches high and offers a bare chamber capacity of 6.08 cubic feet per linear foot of storage capacity. It is designed to retain water until the soil is no longer saturated and suitable for infiltration back into the ground.

The installed system consists of 893 chambers positioned in three fields that provide a total storage volume of 65,776 cubic feet and occupies a total area of 28,855 square feet. Since existing structures would remain onsite, the system needed to be flexible enough to fit. Dividing the system into three fields solved this issue.