Tag Archives: drainage

Environment

Assessing Urban Stormwater Infrastructure Capacity for Severe Storms

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Managing stormwater is important to prevent flooding and associated safety risks; impacts to the environment; and damage to property, roads and bridges. As severe storms increase, MnDOT wants to ensure its stormwater diversion infrastructure can keep communities, roads and ecosystems safe from flooding. New research is helping the agency understand projected stormwater flows and identify cost-effective strategies and other adaptation considerations to manage stormwater.

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Environment, Materials and Construction, Policy and Planning

New video showcases Minnesota city and county stormwater management techniques

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Earlier this week, the Minnesota Local Road Research Board released this new video showcasing best practices for local stormwater management. Although it’s primarily a training video for engineers and other public works professionals, non-transportation geeks might also enjoy learning about some of the interesting, innovative techniques being employed in cities and counties across the state.

Those who’d prefer not to watch the whole 14-minute video can skip ahead by clicking on these highlights:

  1. Woodbury’s stormwater ponds (1:52)
  2. Washington County’s bioretention gardens (2:56)
  3. “Green roof” bioretention method (4:02)
  4. Maplewood’s underground detention system (4:39)
  5. Greenway stormwater project in Minneapolis (6:03)
  6. Minnetonka’s hydrodynamic separator treatment system (7:47)
  7. Arden Hills’ infiltration (swales) system (8:26)
  8. Shoreview’s permeable pavements (9:52)
  9. Ramsey-Washington permeable pavement project (11:11)
  10. Tree boxes/trenches in Ramsey-Washington (12:06)

Overall, the video gives you an appreciation for the incredible amount of planning and work that goes into managing stormwater runoff — a task that’s critical to protecting the state’s waterways from pollution (but which many people no doubt take for granted). For those who want to learn more, the best management practices showcased here are examined in greater detail in a recent LRRB report, “Decision Tree for Stormwater BMPs,” which is available for free on the LRRB and MnDOT Research Sevices websites: