Floodplains & Floodway & Wetlands, Oh My! Navigating SWM Challenges for the Henricus Park Access Road Project
Under contract with Chesterfield County, JMT designed a new access road to Henricus Historical Park, enabling the closure of the existing access via Coxendale Road. This closure is necessary for Dominion Power to begin removing coal ash from their Chesterfield County Power Station adjacent to the park. The new 1.2-mile road will connect to the park through the Corporate Village Parkway extension currently under design/construction, passing through the Rivers Bend neighborhood and a closed golf course, and ending at a parking lot at Adaline Acres. Visitors will then access the park via a pedestrian bridge over the James River Oxbow. Given that most of the project is within a FEMA floodplain with regulated floodways and wetlands, meeting stormwater management requirements was particularly challenging. The design team innovatively utilized an existing BMP along the project corridor, originally serving the Rivers Bend development, and worked closely with the County’s environmental engineering staff to retrofit this BMP. This approach helped meet water quality and quantity requirements while minimizing the project footprint. By reducing the pond's storage and converting it into additional forested area, the designers minimized the need for additional BMPs in the floodplain, further reducing impacts on sensitive areas like wetlands. A detailed construction sequence and erosion and sediment control plan were developed to ensure the pond could be drained and regraded with minimal environmental impact. A multidisciplinary team of hydraulic engineers, geotechnical engineers, landscape architects, construction and inspection staff, and environmental compliance staff collaborated to create a detailed plan ensuring the retrofit's constructability. The BMP retrofit for the Henricus Park Access Road BMP retrofit design is a success story of meeting stormwater management requirements for a challenging site through teamwork and innovative design.
Author Bio
Alice Ortman has 21 years of progressive experience in Water Resources in the State of Virginia, both in the public and private sector. She is the Water Resources Virginia regional lead at JMT, managing and overseeing the program for several contracts throughout the state. Her combined public and private sector experience brings a broad perspective and a solid grasp of federal, state and local stormwater ordinances, policies and requirements. Most of her childhood was spent in Latin America as the daughter of a foreign service officer and she finished high school in Northern Virginia. She graduated from UVA with a BS in Civil Engineering and now resides in Charles City County.
