Landscape Architect & Specifier News

FEB 2013

LASN is a photographically oriented, professional journal featuring topics of concern and state-of-the-art projects designed or influenced by registered Landscape Architects.

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collects runoff and treats it using natural biofiltration, and includes attractive landscaping elements and customizability. The Site The new stadium sits adjacent to San Tomas Aquino Creek, which flows directly into the Guadalupe Slough and San Francisco Bay, sensitive ecologies less than six miles away. The site is on land with a high water table, and existing storm-drain lines are not very far below the surface. An infiltration system would not work. To handle stormwater in the parking lots, access roads, and other hardscape surrounding the stadium, designers selected the Bio-Mod bioretention system, a collection and natural treatment system made by KriStar Enterprises. Special Conditions The high water table of the site was a primary challenge. Even though closed-bottom modules would be able to filter runoff without interference from existing groundwater, the runoff system would have to tie into the existing, shallow storm-drain lines, dictating that the drain system could not go very deep into the ground. The reduced filtration depth available had to be compensated for in the overall design of the drainage system by increasing bioretention surface area. The first system installed includes special units for that purpose. These sections are more than twice as wide as standard modules, and are laid out perpendicular to the main system, with a large, rounded end for aesthetic purposes and to allow for easier entry to neighboring parking stalls. Top The company created advanced retenderings of the completed project. To the casual observer, the drainage system appears to be simply a series of flower beds. The planting media actually filter pollutants out of runoff water, and break them down biologically to provide nutrition for the plants. Bottom Workers laid in 600 feet of perforated pipe in the bottom of the system, and then connected them to the local storm-water system. The planting modules are then filled with a nonproprietary blend of filtration media designed to conform to local codes. February 2013 137

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