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Integrating A Vernal Pool 12-23-10 | News

Integrating A Vernal Pool

While designing an amphibian tunnel at the Walden Woods residential community, engineers at Fuss & O'Neill arrived at the creative solution of using CULTEC?EUR??,,????'?????< Photos courtesy of Fuss & O'Neill, Inc.

Tucked away on the west bank of the Connecticut River, Windsor, Conn., harbors the quiet, picturesque community of Walden Woods. When engineers at Fuss & O'Neill came on board to expand Walden Woods with the addition of a 176-unit Country Walk at Windsor development, they met with the challenge of integrating a vernal pool into the residential community design.

Vernal pools are an integral part of Connecticut?EUR??,,????'?????<
The Country Walk development included an access road to a new lot of homes. The road went alongside the vernal pool?EUR??,,????'?????<
To satisfy this requirement, engineers decided on building an amphibian tunnel within the road base. A trench drain was installed within the road portion of the tunnel to provide sunlight, moisture and air through the air slots, creating an acceptable environment for the amphibians to enter.

Typically used for septic and stormwater systems, CULTEC?EUR??,,????'?????<

However, the engineers still needed an enclosed structure to be installed under the sidewalk and lawn areas. Drawing on their experience of designing residential stormwater and septic systems with CULTEC?EUR??,,????'?????<
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The engineers used three CULTEC?EUR??,,????'?????<
One CULTEC chamber was used at the entrance of the tunnel and two at the exit. The installation of the chambers began with wrapping the perforated units in a non-woven filter fabric. That would reduce any potential erosion from surface runoff through the tunnel and keep fine particles from washing into the tunnel through chamber perforations. Then, the chambers were installed on a six-inch compacted gravel base. The concrete base of the trench drain was extended by one foot on each side for the Contactor EZ-24 units to sit on, and the filter fabric overlapped at the trench drain joint. Finally, the chambers were clamped to the trench drain?EUR??,,????'?????<
On the side of the vernal pool, CULTEC?EUR??,,????'?????<

For more information, please call (203) 775-4416 or visit www.cultec.com