B-4, Inc.
Water Quality Design and Construction Management
RCS completed the design and permitting of this water quality retrofit project for a 1,400-acre, agricultural area. The project involved designing a stormwater reuse and treatment system for the site to meet the proposed phosphorus Total Max Daily Load (92% reduction) for areas in the northern tributaries to Lake Okeechobee. A stormwater model was developed to analyze the existing and proposed stormwater system and the pollutant load reduction of the proposed system was estimated.
The project was designed to Natural Resource Conservation Service, South Florida Water Management District, and Florida Department of Transportation standards. The design provided for 1 inch of stormwater treatment and 1 inch of stormwater reuse capacity. Design elements included:
- over 100 new/improved culverts,
- 2 minor impoundments each with a 100 ac-ft storage/treatment capacity,
- 2 stormwater pump stations each with 2, 24-inch
axial flow pumps, - 22 control structures with riser diameters ranging
from 21 to 84 inches, - over 5 miles of primary ditches, with bottom widths
up to 5 ft, 3:1 side slopes, and depths up to 7 ft, - over 25 miles of conveyance swales,
- wetland rehabilitation,
- stormwater piping and irrigation piping
- roadway crossings,
- a stormwater reuse facility,
- irrigation systems,
- new roadway entrances from public roads,
- a telemetry system for a pump station, and
- a 33 foot wide concrete spillway.
The project included 16 on-site, isolated wetlands with varying degrees of impact from farming activities. Many of the wetlands were being drained by ditches. During the permitting process, it was decided to include several of the wetlands in the stormwater management system. Control structures were designed to promote a more natural hydrologic cycle in the wetlands and rehabilitate them.
The project scope included data collection and analysis, obtaining survey and geotechnical data, stormwater modeling, final design, permitting, cost estimating, wetlands evaluations, a threatened & endangered species survey, an archeological survey, preparing bid documents, bidding services, and construction management.
