Completed Projects
envirotraxx is flexible: it works equally well with all types of land development, from large residential and commercial projects to road and highway construction jobs to innovative new approaches to storm water management such as Low Impact Development. Here are some examples from envirotraxx's proven track record:
Large Residential Development
Timberline Village, Urbandale, Iowa.This 51-acre residential development is a storm water management and erosion control challenge. Like many developments of its kind, it features large, open drainage ways and lots of impervious concrete surfaces, sediment traps, storm sewer systems, and open ground to inspect. In addition, most houses in the development site have walkout basements, requiring overland drainage easements through back yards. That means many of the homes in the development have back yards that are designed as overland flowage easements during frequent heavy rains, making proper storm water management crucial to ensure that storm water run off does not exceed designed levels. envirotraxx made it easy by:
- Tracking and monitoring many contractors simultaneously, from earthmovers to pavers to homebuilders.
- Breaking down all sites down into drainage areas, each of which terminates at a specific discharge point.
- Documenting tracking and amending the SWPPP report for 220 separate BMPS at each SWPPP inspection.
- Speeding the inspection and SWPPP amendment process. Thanks to envirotraxx, this development is able to perform inspections and amend its SWPPP in about two hours per inspection (not including any work that the inspection indicates needs to be done).
Large Multi-Use Development
Westglen, West Des Moines, Iowa. Westglen is a 24-acre development that mixes commercial, residential and retail functions, and features apartments located above commercial and retail spaces. Such developments share many of the challenges of large residential jobs and add their own unique set of concerns: These areas are usually bustling with activity so a thorough inspection takes time. They may employ unique erosion control applications tailored to commercial and industrial developments, and may even work under a different permit entirely. Such developments may also have several vendors, deliveries, construction companies, and buildings in a compact areas. This puts unusually high pressure on BMPs, as storm water run off has a higher level of contaminates than does less-intensive developments.
At Westglenn, envirotraxx:
- Walked the client through the filing of the appropriate permit applications required by this type of development
- Helped create a detailed, workable, and effective SWPPP to handle the challenging site conditions and concentrated land use
- Make the SWPPP instantly accessible to contractors and inspectors, helping to keep BMPs top-of-mind for high compliance
- Allowed for efficient, yet rigorous inspections and fast SWPPP updating, ensuring that any deficiencies on site and of the SWPPP were quickly taken care of.
Residential Development with Bioretention
Sunrise Point, Pleasant Hill, Iowa. This 25-acre residential development uses bioretention rather than storm sewers to collect, filter, and regulate storm water run off. Bioretention recognizes that plants and soils can successfully filter pollutants from water—often right at the site—while offering significant aesthetic and environmental benefits. Sunrise Point chose envirotraxx to inspect, monitor, and document the performance of the many bioretention areas built into the development. The record shows that envirotraxx works just as well when applied to innovative new BMPs such as biorentention as it does to traditional storm water management and treatment practices.
Low Impact Residential Development
Danamere Farms, Carlisle, Iowa. The 25-acre Danamere Farms development choose envirotraxx to help plan and monitor its innovative Low Impact Development (LID) comprehensive land plan. LID's goal is to mimic the way a site's hydrologic cycle worked before development by filtering, storing, evaporating, and detaining runoff at it's source, rather than conveying and treating storm water in large, costly facilities elsewhere. The benefits of such developments are many: up to 30% less costs for site development, the potential for more development with less environmental impact, cleaner streams, increased urban forest, improved air quality, and a healthier, better-looking development. LID is currently being studied by the Environmental Protection Agency, which may soon require a certain percentage of sites per municipality or developer to be low-impact. envirotraxx is adept at producing SWPPPs and managing, tracking, inspecting, and reporting such plans for LIDs. envirotraxx not only monitors the development sites themselves, but can also monitor surrounding wetlands and other areas as required.