395 SmitWorks Project
PENNSTATE
Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering Edgewood Circle Sinkhole Group
Final ReportDecember 1st, 2014
Kaitlyn BensonTyler Gardner
Ryan TillmannMatthew Tsui
Executive SummaryWe aimed to design a system to mitigate storm water runoff leading to a sinkhole in Orchard Park. This problem presented an opportunity for our team to apply our education in research methods, engineering concepts and professional communication to a real- world situation. We are thankful that this will benefit the Penn State Sustainability Institutes Sustainable Communities Collaborative.
Our team has designed a storm water system to attenuate storm water leading to the sinkhole. Our group decided the following proof of concepts for our design 1.) Produce a basin that can handle 10% of storm water for a 2-year/ 24-hour storm 2.) Produce a second storage for overflow 3.) Abide by Borough of State College regulations and 4.) Abide to Pennsylvania regulation of sinkhole management. Schematics provided by Borough of State College showed that three inflows from Southgate Drive, Blue Course Drive and the watershed encompassing Orchard Park. The total flow rate and volume of stormwater leading to the sinkhole were calculated and proved that attenuating a 20-year storm within the area given was impossible. We, instead, utilized the calculations to design conventional structures aimed to attenuate a 2-year/ 24-hour storm.Our design includes the linear process of a 1.) Rip-rap lined channel and 2.) Two infiltration basins. Storm water runoff first leads through a parabolic rip- rap lined channel and feeds into basin #1. Overflow from basin #1 then flows directly into the sinkhole. Any residual water from the sinkhole flows into basin #2. Each basin includes hydrophilic plants that contribute to dewatering of the basins.This report documents the use of ArcGIS, VTPSUM, SolidWorks and Microsoft Excel. A brief economic analysis of the local materials and services for construction is provided as a starting point for the Borough. Analysis of the hydrograph shows that our design can drop the peak flow by 9.77%, attenuate the flow rate by 29 minutes and reduce the combined downstream outflow by 25.45%.
We recommend that the Borough of State College consider redirecting the flow of the two outlet pipes elsewhere to reduce further expansion of the sinkhole. We recommend that Borough of State College analyze the effectiveness of our design and the opportunity of creating hands-on education for children and adults.Table of Contents
31.0 Introduction
1.1 Initial Problem Statement31.2 Objectives42.0 Client Needs Assessment42.1 Gathering Client Input42.2 Assessment of Client Needs53.0 Engineering Specifications63.1 Establishing Target Specifications63.2 Relating Specifications to Client Needs64.0 Concept Generation and Selection74.1 Problem Clarification84.2 Concept Generation84.3 Concept Selection115.0 System Design115.1 Analysis146.0 Exceedance analysis177.0 Budget178.0 Project Management189.0 Conclusions and Recommendations20References (Times New Roman, 14, Bold)21Appendix A21Appendix B27
1.0 Introduction
With current weather patterns, 100-year storms are becoming more and more frequent. Communities are facing larger volumes of water in shorter amounts of time and are exploring options of how to deal with this problem. Stormwater management in turn has become a very important field for engineers and scientists to delve deeper in.
State College is no exception to this increase in heavy storms, as this community has faced frequent flooding of main roads during spring and summer months. State College is also unique in another feature; the city lies on top of Karst, carbonate geology. This type of geology is very prone to sinkholes, which can be seen throughout the Pennsylvania State University campus and the town of State College. Sinkholes can be very unstable and prone to erosion, and unfortunately are often utilized as a natural storage basin.
This project is for the Penn State course Biological Engineering (BE) 467: Design of Stormwater and Erosion Control Facilities. Our class has joined the Penn State Sustainability Institutes Sustainable Communities Collaborative to investigate and research ways in which State College can become more sustainable. Within this collaborative, other courses researched sustainable topics such as becoming a Net Zero community, managing methane emissions, electricity use, and the use of solar and wind energy. Our classs focus was on stormwater management within the community. We are a team comprised of two Biological Engineering students and two Environmental Science students. As seen in Appendix A, the resumes of our group members details our diverse course and work experience backgrounds. This diversity allowed us to focus our design to not only control the volume of water, but also to promote biodiversity, hydrophilic plants, and education.1.1 Initial Problem Statement
Edgewood Circle Site 2 has multiple stormwater issues that our design addresses. The current system involves a large, fenced-off sinkhole that stormwater is fed to from throughout Orchard Park. The inflow to the sinkhole comes from two culverts as a direct inlet and also from channelized, runoff from upslope of the sinkhole. The sinkhole has already experienced erosion, and considering its proximity to the adjacent playground and housing development, a main goal has been to minimize further erosion. It has also been noted that ponding of water is an issue for the grounds and walkway near the sinkhole.
1.2 Objectives
The team will strive to create a practical design that will meet or exceed the expectations and performance criteria of the Borough of State College. The design will utilize correct engineering practices coupled with the background knowledge provided on the problem about Orchard Park. This project provides the chance to develop and specialize the engineering skills that have been learned in previous educational courses and also apply these skills to the professional world. The team will also seek to accomplish absolute professionalism while working on this project with the Penn State Sustainability Institutes Sustainable Communities Collaborative.2.0 Client Needs Assessment
2.1 Gathering Client Input
Amy Kerner is the Borough of State College Engineer, and was our client for this project. Our first interaction with Kerner was during a tour of the site at the end of September 2014. This was also our first inspection of the site and where we learned of the stormwater problems at this site. After this initial meeting, our interaction with Kerner involved emails, phone calls, and meetings in person. Our client liaison was Ryan Tillman and was responsible to be the main contact with Kerner for our group.Our team first gathered the client needs by discussing our ideas and potential design with Kerner. We contacted her frequently to request information necessary to complete our design over the length of the project.This project allowed us to be a part of the Sustainable Communities Collaborative. As described by the Penn State Sustainability Institute, The Sustainable Communities Collaborative (SCC) connects University Park faculty, students, and staff with local communities to address sustainability challenges through an engaged, collaborative effort. This collaborative partnered our BE 467 class with the State College Borough to design ways to make the community more sustainable. There are multiple Penn State University classes that are involved with this community, and range from Photography, Engineering, to Labor Relations. 2.2 Assessment of Client Needs
Kerner emphasized the needs the Borough of State College would like to focus on. The needs were to firstly remove the ponded water that is occurring near the bike path and playground area. Next, Kerner discussed the need to minimize how often the sinkhole overflows and also to reduce the flow that leads downstream. Lastly, she emphasized that an additional educational aspect would be beneficial to the community. Below is a table that rates the importance of the client needs:Client Needs
Remove Ponded WaterHigh
Minimize overflow of SinkholeMedium
Reduce Flow Downstream of SinkholeMedium
Education at DesignLow
The need to remove the ponded water was emphasized as the most important. The location of the ponding is occurring at the bike path and the playground. This is a problem for any community member that uses the path or playground. Next, there was a large need to lessen how often the sinkhole overflows. Kerner discussed that although using a sinkhole as a basin is not ideal, it is often what occurs in the Borough of State College. The team discussed that promoting infiltration may lead to more sinkholes in the future, but Kerner assured that sinkholes occur often within the Borough. Kerner also discussed that when the sinkhole overflows, it causes overflow large flows downstream. If it were possible, the client would like if this runoff could be reduced by retaining the volume by adding storage near the sinkhole. Lastly, she recommended that an educational aspect could be highly beneficial for nearby schools.3.0 Engineering Specifications
The specifications used for the stormwater management design project are indicated below.3.1 Establishing Target Specifications The following constraints and specifications have been determined for the stormwater design project:
Must produce a channel with adequate dimensions to concentrate flow
Must produce a storage basin capable of handling 10% of stormwater produced in a certain size storm event
Must produce a second storage basin to handle water for sinkhole overflows
Must follow the Borough of State College Codification of Ordinance for stormwater management
Must follow the Pennsylvania regulations of sinkhole management
The target specifications relate to the needs specified by the Borough of State College. The client has not been extremely specific with values they require for the design, only that they wish to improve the problem in any way. Therefore, the team created values and specifications based on the needs they deemed necessary.3.2 Relating Specifications to Client Needs
To ensure that all of the needs of the client were met, the team created a Needs Metrics Matrix to compare the established specifications.MetricsDesign will attenuate storm event by 25%Cost of raw materials will be
