Underground Stormwater Detention - Town of Highland, IN

The Town's Ellendale Subdivision had experienced frequent storm water problems for more than two decades. With heavy rains, water would pond in the streets to a depth of 18-inches, overflow into front yards and threaten home flooding in a large portion of the Subdivision.

The Highland Sanitary Board of Commissioners asked NIES Engineering, Inc. to provide an effective solution. Initial investigations confirmed that the addition of large commercial developments upstream of the Subdivision and inadequate existing storm sewer capacity were the two main challenges. One possible solution was to construct relief sewers to divert excess storm water rapidly to other trunk sewers. However, there was no guarantee that this action would not create flooding problems elsewhere.

NIES Engineering recommended a solution that involved construction of an HDPE pipe system under the parking lot of the Town's Markley Park. The system provided 2.0 Acre-feet of detention storage for excess storm water, with gradual release back to the existing storm sewer system after the rainfall event. The Town became the first municipality in the United States to utilize this type of "bundled" pipe system developed by Advanced Drainage Systems. Known as the Storm Compressorâ„¢, this design incorporates long lateral runs of 42-inch pipe positioned right next to each other, with 10-inch diameter pipe nested in the upper and lower haunch areas between the laterals. The whole system is then wrapped with a geogrid for lateral support, and a non-woven geotextile is added as a filter.

There is less excavation and backfill required since the system fits in a smaller footprint than the typical "Traditional" pipe system with laterals located 2 feet apart. This resulted in a project cost savings of about $30,000.

Key Points

  • Rapid Response
  • Cost Effective Design
  • State-of-the-Art Solutions

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