From the Desk of Charles: Bioretention Basins Project
From the Desk of Charles:
One of our teams’ specialties is in maintaining Bioretention Basins. A major client tasked us with correcting a serious erosion issue surrounding 7 large retention basins at their property in Missouri. The site is a 115-acre site that is about 80% concrete and building.
Work consisted of repairing serious erosion issues on 10-12 acres surrounding these basins where washouts had caused damage due to heavy rains. Some were 8’-10’ deep. These were excavated and fabric installed, and several thousand tons of rip rap were installed.
The property was infested with weeds that were 6’-8’ tall. These were mowed and cleaned up on grades of 2:1 and 1:1. A camera was inserted into the piping of these bio basins to ensure there were no pipe failures. Only one area had failed, and this was replaced.
Weeds were pulled in the bioretention basins and hundreds of C.Y. of silt were removed. These basins were not functioning properly as they were supposed to drain out within 48 hours; many had algae, supporting the fact that water was sitting for weeks. A ¾” gravel was added to meet spec. Some 20,000 plugs were planted, rip rap was added to all pipe outlets to reduce volatility of water flowing. All 30” diameter pipes entering these basins run full even on a ¼” of rain fescue seed.
This entire operation was monitored by the engineering firm of record for our client. Some 10 acres were terraseeded with a K-31 fescue to enhance proper growth on slopes surrounding the basins. We self-performed 95% of the work ourselves, and with the support of local service partners.
This was a major project that met and exceeded every SWPPP standard. Conformed to Best Management Practices. We now maintain multiple Bioretention Basins in multiple states.
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