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Innovative Stormwater System Provides Maximized Footprint for Charter School Expansion

Innovative Stormwater System Provides Maximized Footprint for Charter School Expansion

Detention Chambers Buried Under New Athletic Stadium

The Kipp Charter School has completed its latest expansion for the more than 2,000 students in attendance from pre-school to high school.  The new 600-seat athletic stadium, which officially opened on October 24, 2019, was built for football, soccer, and field and track events.  To control stormwater runoff from the field, parking lots, and building, two underground detention systems were constructed using a network of chambers that can hold a combined total of nearly 445,000 gallons of stormwater.

“One of the main reasons we had to go underground and selected the chambers, is because of the constraints on the footprint of the project, which was previously a driving range of the Bridgeview Golf Course,” explained Amy Nagy, P.E., senior project manager for EMH&T (Columbus, Ohio) who led the design team.  “We didn’t have any spare greenspace to provide surface detention and water quality to meet City and EPA requirements.  We realized early in the project that we would have to utilize underground system because we couldn’t locate the required storm detention within the floodplain, which was relevant to the project.  Utilizing underground detention allowed us to put it underneath the field in the endzones.  This allowed us to maximize the footprint of the project in order to accommodate a regulation high school field and desired building.  Once we looked at where that was, we didn’t have any room for detention outside of that, so we had to move it within that footprint.

Two underground detention systems were constructed using a network of 288 StormTech chambers that can hold a combined total of nearly 450,000 gallons of water. Photo: The Daimler Group, Inc

“An additional constraint was to make sure we were clear from any of the field underdrains and kept structures out of the turf area. The design for the stadium was following behind the rest of the site plan.  We could have put it over the top of it, but basically we placed it in the endzones because they were clear areas, and we wouldn’t interfere with anything as the project phased out.”

The project design called for 288 StormTech® MC-3500 chambers to be used and buried with a minimum cover of #4 gravel fill 12 inches over top of the chambers, followed by another 12 inches of compacted material.  System A, 116 x 89 feet, under the south end of the field, with 168 chambers has a total installed volume capacity of 254,338 gallons of water, while System B, 102 x 74 feet, under the north end of the field with 120 chambers can hold up to 187,000 gallons of water.

StormTech chambers, a product of Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc. (ADS) (NYSE: WMS) (Hilliard, Ohio), are designed in accordance with AASHTO, ASTM and CSA design standards, qualifying them for use in commercial and municipal projects.  Made from an engineered grade of impact-modified polypropylene copolymer, the chambers are made to provide a minimum 75-year service life.

Each chamber, measures 90 inches long x 77 inches wide x 45 inches high and has an installed volume of 1,339 gallons of water (178.7 cubic feet).  Ferguson Waterworks (Newport News, VA) supplied the chambers and storm pipe from its Columbus, Ohio branch, and coordinated the just-in-time deliveries to the site.

The Kipp athletic stadium was built on the former driving range of a golf course. Photo: ADS.

Along the sides and on top of the chambers, ADS 0601TG non-woven geotextile was used as a soil separation layer.  Underneath the chambers, ADS 315WTM woven geotextile was used to add scour protection.  Nearly 8,000 square yards of geotextile fabric was used.

ADS N-12® 18-inch diameter high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe was used to connect the chambers.  Plus, 750 feet of four-inch diameter N-12 perforated pipe provides additional drainage into the StormTech chambers.

Each of the two systems has two StormTech Isolator® Rows that trap sediment from the stormwater drainage preventing it from settling at the bottom of the bed, which would slow the infiltration rate.  The Isolator Rows can be cleaned out by a JET-VAC® process using access from any one of the inspection/clean out ports.    

ADS FLEXSTORM® inlet filters that are configured based on drainage structure type and filtration needs were used in the upstream structures with open grates.  Each FLEXSTORM unit effectively filters silt, solids and other pollutants and readily fits an ADS pipe system, including the Nyloplast® drain basin.

Nyloplast Water Control Structures were used in both StormTech systems as a collection point where one or more drain lines converge.  The unit is designed to improve water quality as part of the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) and EPA Phase II Standards.

Built in 2008 on the site of the former golf course in northeast Columbus, the campus includes KIPP Elementary, KIPP Primary, KIPP Middle and the KIPP High School along with the KIPP Early Learning Center and the KIPP Athletics and Wellness Complex.  Additionally, the YMCA of Central Ohio operates an Early Learning Center at KIPP Primary for infants to pre-kindergarteners.  Also, the Battelle Environmental Center opened on the KIPP Columbus Campus in 2017.  This center has learning labs, a makerspace, demonstration areas, and a three-mile nature path and preserve that is incorporated into the educational programming.  KIPP is a national network of 242 free, open-enrollment, public charter schools that focus on educating early childhood, elementary, middle, and high school students.

The two underground chamber systems provide detention and water quality for the limited asphalt area, the building rooftops, field, and track.  From the chambers, water flows into ADS HP Storm pipe, carried into the floodplain area and eventually travels to Alum Creek.  A weir plate between the chambers and the outlet provides the required release rates.

“Utilizing the StormTech chambers provided an efficient footprint to minimize impact to the project.” Nagy stated.  “And we needed the water quality.  The city of Columbus still regulates and requires post-construction stormwater controls for both water quality and water quantity.”

Massana Construction Company, Inc. (Columbus, Ohio) was responsible for installing both stormwater control systems.

“We prefer to utilize the StormTech systems in most cases,” offered Toby Beegle, operations manager for Massana. “That’s because of weight and more fluid installation.  Installing the plastic chambers can be done with a reduced crew, and the equipment utilization to set the chambers is minimal. You can handle them with just two individuals in most cases.  We’ve done multiple projects with them.

“We certainly like the high-performance pipe because it eliminates any deflection so you can pass the mandrel test.  Money well spent getting the HP Storm pipe.  We just use it to eliminate problems on the job site.  When we pull mandrels for the City, we want that mandrel system to work every time.  We’re going to use that pipe in the vast majority of times.”

A high-performance polypropylene (PP) pipe for gravity-flow storm drainage applications, HP Storm pipe provides stiffness and premium joint performance.  The ADS design couples advanced polypropylene resin technology with a proven, dual-wall profile design for superior performance and durability, according to the company.  The pipe is corrosion resistant and is unaffected by salts, chemicals and hot soils and meets or exceeds ASTM F2881 and AASHTO M330.  Burial cover can range from 1-39 feet.

“The stadium is built into the hillside and part of it is in the existing floodplain,” explained Drew Hanna, project manager for site developer the Daimler Group, Inc. (Columbus, Ohio).  “We remediated about 30,000 yards of peat moss.  Dug all that out, put back stable soils plus a little bit of rock to stabilize the plateau, and then put in about 80,000 yard of fill plus the two  StormTech systems from ADS.  These take all the runoff from the field and parking lots west of the stadium and flows through the filter then back into the watershed and the floodplain.

“It was quite a process.  We literally built the plateau to the field 20 feet out of the floodplain above existing grade, right up to the hillside.  This kept the beauty of the land.  When you look over the hillside, you see the floodplain, the river, all the natural trees and foliage.  We even found an old abandoned bridge buried in the hillside, which we remediated, and is now a part of the landscape, adding even more character to the site.

“The old golf course path is now being used as cross-country trail through the woods and back up the hills to the track inside the stadium.  It all ties together as one big nature campus.

“In the end, we probably moved 100,000 yards of dirt and built the stadium.  Even with it being the wettest year on record, we were definitely on budget.  The timing was somewhat flexible to make sure everything was done right with the floodplain and nature, and that we weren’t just cramming it all in there to save time.  This project took about a year and it was really one of the biggest earth-moving undertakings I’ve ever seen.

“The Daimler Group has been involved with the school since the beginning,” Hanna continued.  “The one thing everyone always agreed on was to preserve the natural features of the site and build into the old fairways.  This made it possible to save a lot of tree lines.  To keep the beautiful vista, the buildings were built right up to the hillside overlooking the floodplain, and the same thought went into the planning for the new stadium.”

About Advanced Drainage Systems, Inc.

Advanced Drainage Systems (ADS) is the leading manufacturer of high performance thermoplastic corrugated pipe, providing a comprehensive suite of water management products and superior drainage solutions for use in the construction and infrastructure marketplace. Its innovative products are used across a broad range of end markets and applications, including non-residential, residential, agriculture and infrastructure applications. The Company has established a leading position in many of these end markets by leveraging its national sales and distribution platform, its overall product breadth and scale and its manufacturing excellence. Founded in 1966, the Company operates a global network of approximately 55 manufacturing plants and over 30 distribution centers. To learn more about the ADS, please visit the Company’s website at www.ads-pipe.com.