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SPRAY-APPLIED GEOMEMBRANES have a big impact on Low Impact Development

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Low impact development (LID) has be-

come a major infl uence on new storm-

water, water quality, and affi liated

projects throughout the United States. Th e

recent International Low Impact Devel-

opment Symposium (August 2013, Saint

Paul, Minnesota) proved as much with

more than 800 attendees in just the event’s

6th installment. Th e attendance level is

even more impressive when one consid-

ers that the LID conference was sched-

uled during the same window as the long-

successful StormCon conference (August

2013, South Carolina). Th at both events

could fl ourish underscores how infl uential

LID practices and water quality issues have

become.

A Centennial, Colorado project has

GEOSYNTHETICS

20 November/December 2013

Spray-Applied Geomembranes Have a Big Impact on Low Impact Development

The site effi ciently incorporates a range of readily available green technologies, including the bio-mod units, two tree fi lters, a living wall, the bioswale, and the SEMSWA rain garden. Collectively, these systems form a “treatment train” to treat runoff.

21www.landandwater.com

GEOSYNTHETICS

brought these issues together to demon-

strate exemplary green infrastructure ap-

proaches. An eco-friendly, spray-applied

geomembrane played a huge role.

Promoting Water QualityTh e Colorado Department of Public

Health and Environment’s (CDPHE) Wa-

ter Quality Improvement Fund (WQIF)

off ers grants to improve education and

training resources for a variety of water-im-

pacting practices. Th e City of Centennial’s

Southeast Metro Stormwater Authority

(SEMSWA) received a $15,000 education

grant to highlight green, low impact de-

velopment practices for infrastructure at

SEMSWA’s Water Quality LID Demon-

stration Campus in Centennial. Th e grant

would enable SEMSWA to train others on

the campus after the new green engineering

basins were installed.

Th e City of Centennial, located in the

Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area, is inter-

esting in that it was not offi cially formed

and incorporated until 2001—but it is not

small. With more than 100,000 residents

and healthy growth, it must address plenty

of urban water quality challenges. Locally-

based SEMSWA is charged with providing

the stormwater management, drainage,

and fl ood control services for Centennial,

Arapahoe County, and part of Douglas

County. Th ese services include capital con-

struction, fl oodplain management, master

planning, water quality, system mainte-

nance, and more.

Th e WQIF grant that SEMSWA re-

The complete “vault” installation fuses newer engineering and construction ap-proaches with traditional infrastructure.

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22 November/December 2013

ceived was further supported by strong

donations of materials and labor, provid-

ing an ideal opportunity to show how LID

designs, properly implemented, can have

a big, benefi cial impact on water qual-

ity while generating

strong goodwill be-

tween the communi-

ty and the companies

demonstrating the

work.

Colorado Lining

International (CLI)

became part of the

new LID campus

development out of

both direct interest

and activity in the

related markets, and familiarity with the

area. CLI’s global headquarters is located in

Parker, Colorado in Douglas County.

A Smarter Mix Of MaterialsTh e Water Quality LID Demonstra-

tion Campus has been designed to pro-

vide education and training for all levels

of stormwater management personnel,

including private sector design engineers,

construction contractors, and public sector

review agencies. It’s part of a dedicated ef-

fort to promote green infrastructure prac-

tices in semi-arid climates.

To help underscore the options avail-

able to communities, SEMSWA incor-

porated a broad range of materials in the

project.

A centerpiece of design on the cam-

pus involves an armored, extended deten-

tion basin. While not large, the retrofi t-

ted basin provides an exceptional project

demonstration opportunity, as it utilizes a

suite of green infrastructure Best Manage-

ment Practices (BMPs). It showcases the

applicability and functionality of green

stormwater management techniques, and

it provides a clear example of how commu-

nities can incorporate LID strategies with

just as much success through retrofi tting as

through new construction.

Overall, the demonstration design

focuses on reducing the impact of devel-

opment by increasing the infi ltration and

treatment of stormwater as it fl ows over

vegetated surfaces, a process that closely

mimics natural conditions.

Common principles and materials

from rain garden designs have played a

central role.

For the containment solution, the

facility has utilized two approaches, one

drawn from newer lining technology (an

eco-friendly spray-applied liner) and one

from a more traditional lining solution (a

polymeric liner delivered on prefabricated

roll).

Much in the way the project has dem-

onstrated how retrofi tting and new con-

struction can use these techniques, the

contrast in liner solutions has shown how

old and new methods are eff ective and

green, given the right project and material

knowledge.

Th is portion of the project—the lin-

ing—was where CLI contributed its exper-

tise.

Phase One work included:

• Providing 179 yd2 of 8 oz. geotextile

separator fabric

• Providing 49 yd2 of spray-applied wa-

terproof coating

• Installing 130 yd2 of the waterproof

coating for work on the pond outlet struc-

ture

Phase Two involved:

• 640 yd2 of 8 oz. geotextile separator

fabric

• 320 yd2 geomembrane liner (30-mil

PVC) with connections

Th e spray-applied membrane (Eco-

dur) is unique in that it is a solvent-free

spray-on liner system comprised complete-

ly of natural products. It is even manufac-

tured without creating emissions, given the

project a carbon footprint reduction even

before the product arrived on site.

With construction and related activi-

ties producing up to 40% of global carbon

emissions, small shifts in the product chain

and on site can have a huge impact.

Th e spray-applied membrane is a new-

er product in these types of designs, but

SEMSWA was suffi ciently interested with

the results that the organization is now

considering a revision in its specifi cations

for future rain garden installations.

Other LID approaches used in con-

junction with the retrofi t and affi liated

vegetation and green installations included:

• Stormwater separation system

• A biofi ltration box

• Tree fi lters

• A vegetated green wall

• Bioswales

Stormwater separation systems come

in a variety of orientations, sizes, and price

points, but their function is simple: the re-

moval of total suspended solids (TSS) and

debris (such as fl oating litter). Many sys-

tems also fi lter oils from runoff , which is

An underdrain was added to this rain garden, as well as infi ltration and growing media, and native plants. Inset: The spray-applied membrane decrease stormwater runoff volume as the garden removes pollutants in runoff through natural vegeta-tive processes.

GEOSYNTHETICS

24 November/December 2013

extremely important in urban zones. Th ese

systems provide a strong level of treatment

ahead of any runoff into underground in-

frastructure, as well as help provide cleaner

water fl ow on the surface.

Biofi ltration boxes are, essentially, en-

gineered rain gardens. Th ey utilize natural

vegetative and soil fi ltering processes to re-

direct and treat runoff . Low-set and often

installed in conjunction with stormwater

structures such as inlets in urban areas or

as breaks between parking lot rows, runoff

can fl ow into the biofi lter and be retained

by the soil and used by the vegetation. De-

pending on the variety of plants, the mi-

crobial activity in the soil, and the type of

pollutants in the runoff , the biofi lter may

actually cleanse the runoff —ultimately

keeping the runoff out of the underground

stormwater management system.

Tree fi lters are another form of biofi l-

tration. Th ese systems, like biofi lter boxes,

are constructed with enough space to sup-

port tree root development. When runoff

enters the tree box, it is taken up or de-

tained by the soil, affi liated vegetation and

tree root system. Excess runoff may fl ow

into a catch basin. As with the other bio-

retention structures, the tree fi lter system

is designed to minimize how much runoff

may escape the system into underground

stormwater pipes.

Bioswales are common landscaping

techniques that attempt to “interfere” with

runoff by creating gentle slopes, dips and

turns. Th is helps disrupt the direct fl ow

of runoff and, combined with vegetation

and engineered BMP materials (e.g., check

dams) the bioswale can increase infi ltra-

tion, vegetative uptake of water/pollutants,

and the deposit of sediment within the

swale rather than in the stormwater system.

A closer look at the bio-mod unit. SEMSWA’s grant supports its use of systems like this in educating stormwater professionals from the public and private sectors.

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GEOSYNTHETICS

Looking ForwardTh ese green infrastructure approaches

were chosen for how they decrease mainte-

nance costs, reduce permit fees and collat-

eral deposits, lower infrastructure costs and

create community amenities.

Th ey provide a ready-to-adopt strategy

for more effi ciently using an urban land-

scape, disturbing less land and decreasing

stormwater sedimentation runoff and oth-

er detrimental aspects of traditional urban

hardscapes.

For the semi-arid communities found

throughout Colorado that which must

think more carefully about how to respon-

sibly and economically manage their water

resources, the SEMSWA demonstration

campus is making low impact development

more visual and ultimately more accessible.

Th e LID fi eld remains relatively

young, but it is steadily fi nding its way into

the discussions of municipalities, land use

agencies, developers and engineers. Th is

is true within the Denver metropolitan

area. Increasing community awareness and

tougher stormwater and sediment control

regulations are having a benefi cial impact

on LID acceptance, and the SEMSWA

campus contributes positively to this dia-

logue.

Th e mix of materials on the demon-

stration campus, including the eco-friend-

ly, spray-applied, water-tight liner, demon-

strates the large range of options that LID

designs may incorporate on their path to

smarter, more sustainable development.

L&W

by Patrick Elliott, GM – Colo-rado Lining, International, Inc.

Project DetailsSEMSWA: Demolition, erosion and sedi-

ment control, earthworks

Contech: CDS System and Urban Green

Bio Filter Box

Colorado Lining International, Inc.: Membrane and Spray Liner materials and

installation

KriStar: BioMod Filter Cell Module and

Filterra tree fi lter box

Pioneer Sand and Gravel: Mix for rain

gardens and bioswale

Valerian: Landscape design

J3 Engineering: Project Design

Territory Unlimited: Contractor

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