The Charlestown Bus Facility along the Mystic River is the MBTA’s largest bus garage and critical to daily operations. The existing steel sheet pile seawall, which protects the facility from flooding and river erosion, was severely...
With industrial design features, 10 Farnsworth Street celebrates the history of its Fort Point neighborhood. The six-story building houses ground-level retail, eight loft-style condominiums sharing access to a rooftop amenity deck, and one...
The stormwater retention system at the MassBiologics facility at the UMass Medical School comprises subsurface chambers constructed from modular, stackable thermoplastic units. Following partial collapse of the chambers in 2006, SGH...
In the summer of 2014, a high-intensity rainfall in Cambridge surcharged the city’s stormwater drainage system, resulting in localized flooding near a basement-level retail space. The floodwaters overtopped the sidewalk and flowed down the...
Fontbonne Academy, a secondary girls’ school, experienced several flooding events on the campus and adjacent roadway. At times, water entered the school’s below-grade spaces, causing damage to equipment and affecting operations within...
The new Fluvanna County High School included four buried, stackable crate-type, stormwater detention systems under deep cover. Shortly after installation in 2010, the contractor observed that the backfill material over two of the detention...
The University of Connecticut’s (UConn’s) Fine Arts Building is a u-shaped, two-story building built in 1974. The building is a ribbed concrete masonry unit load-bearing structure with low-slope built-up roofs, batten-seam metal...
StormTech manufactures underground molded polypropylene chambers for stormwater retention systems. With no design standards available for these structures, StormTech asked SGH to assess the structural performance of the chambers and develop...
As with many structures, understanding issues with design, construction, and material performance for artificial turf fields can help inform investigations and repair design when these systems do not perform as expected.
Artificial turf field construction has increased significantly during the last three decades. A new field is a significant investment for an owner; however, drainage problems resulting in ponding water on the surface of the field can be a source...
Abstract: Use of underground stormwater collection systems has increased in recent years because of regulatory mandates to retain, recharge, and/or reuse stormwater onsite. Because of advantages in economics and constructability, the stormwater...
Abstract: Mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls for construction projects can fail for various reasons, but it is most commonly due to poor water management behind and above the wall. These structures are typically created without...
Abstract: Due to advantages in economics, constructability, and aesthetics, the construction of mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls is now commonplace. An MSE wall consists of soil, reinforcement, and facing to retain earth and support...
Abstract: Many challenges confront owners, engineers, and contractors that elect to construct mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) retaining walls today. Owners select sites with difficult topography and less-than-ideal soils. Water-bearing...
By: Brent Bass, McGrath, Timothy J., Mailhot D., Lim K.W.
Abstract: Thermoplastic chambers for stormwater retention applications have been in use for many years. One design, an arch-shaped chamber with a 51 in. nominal width and a 30 in. nominal height, has seen widespread acceptance. This paper reports...
Abstract: Environmental Protection Agency requirements for control of stormwater runoff are increasing the need to provide on-site stormwater storage as part of site development projects. Underground stormwater storage is one solution to this...
Abstract: Plastic pipe has been used for many years in applications to control surface water runoff by detention, retention, and infiltration. Review of deficiencies with available pipe geometries resulted in creation of a new product,...