A Multi-Tiered Stormwater Solution

Sept. 28, 2010

Over the last 38 years, Kingswood United Methodist Church in Dunwoody, Ga., has established a history of growth and expansion. In order to accommodate a congregation more than 15 times its original, the church recently made plans to add to its existing facility, including the construction a new parking lot.

Faced with land constraints and stormwater regulations, the church utilized a CULTEC multi-tiered stormwater system, implemented to manage run-off created by the new impervious surfaces.

Over the last 38 years, Kingswood United Methodist Church in Dunwoody, Ga., has established a history of growth and expansion. In order to accommodate a congregation more than 15 times its original, the church recently made plans to add to its existing facility, including the construction a new parking lot.

Faced with land constraints and stormwater regulations, the church utilized a CULTEC multi-tiered stormwater system, implemented to manage run-off created by the new impervious surfaces.

Original plans called for a single-layer system. However, excavation revealed unsuitable soil conditions. In addition, existing buildings on either side of the lot limited the amount of expansion-width capability. Thus the decision was made to install a multi-tiered design that would work on the narrow piece of land.

CULTEC's tiered systems are designed to allow for a smaller footprint in restricted areas without sacrificing infiltration capabilities.

"Multi-tiered systems are essentially single-layer chamber beds stacked on top of one another," said Ted McCarter, Southeast Sales Manager for CULTEC, Inc. "The systems required a deeper dig but are solutions in areas where treatment of a certain amount stormwater run-off is required, but horizontal expansion to install a single-layer system is not an option."

Atlanta-based Edwards & Neff Engineering specified 900 CULTEC Recharger 330 HD Heavy Duty chambers, installed in two layers of approximately 450 chambers per layer. The finished system has the capacity to store and infiltrate more than 75,000 cubic feet of stormwater run-off.