Ballston Pond Retrofit
During the construction of I-66 through Arlington County in the early 1980’s, a detention pond was constructed to control runoff from I-66 for storms up to the 100-year storm. Over time, the pond became silted in and overgrown with invasive plant life. Arlington County sought to restore the pond and bring it back to its original volume and take the opportunity to retrofit the pond to bring it back to the community as a natural attribute, in an otherwise very urban area. RK&K identified public sentiment and suggested enhancements to the local facility by leading several stakeholder meetings, site visits and public meetings. Ideas and thoughts from these initial meetings were carried through the design and into the final product. A complete survey of the pond and surrounding area and utilities was completed and used as the base map for the project. RK&K presented the County and the public with multiple design options for the pond retrofit. Renderings of the concepts based on input were presented for feedback. Several public outreach meetings and information sharing including blogs, website updates, and email correspondence were conducted to obtain adequate feedback to determine the chosen design concept. This information, combined with public input allowed the County and RK&K to develop an accepted final design concept. Details included an extensive plant management plan that met the satisfaction of the County Naturalist, litter control plans and education/interpretive opportunities. Additional sustainability pratices, such as harvesting on-site trees that were necessary to be removed, reusing them on site as turtle basking logs. The final design documents were completed in 2019. The project invitation to bid (ITB) was issued in April 2021, County awarded the contract to the contractor in July 2021. Construction commenced in November 2021 and completed in the Summer of 2023. The Ballston Wetlands Park is a project which demonstrates how with careful planning, a maintenance relic, not contributing significantly for water quality to the Chesapeake Bay, can be revitalized, with significant improvements as well as numerous natural and ecological uplift improvements.Author Bio
Brian is a water resources project manager in the Fairfax office of RK&K. He has 20 years of progressive experience in water resource project delivery.
