$5M project to address drainage issues

A new underground system aimed at improving storm drainage on the Edinburg campus is in the works along with other amenities such as new landscaping, barbecue pavilions and a stage.

There is an existing storm sewer line running across the Quad, according to Daniel Sharp, a landscape architect with Ten Eyck Landscape Architects, the firm in charge of the project. 

“When you have a large storm event, that storm drain backs up so water is coming up out of the drain with nowhere to go except the Quad,” said Sharp, of the Austin-based firm. “So these cisterns are basically becoming the first best place for that water to go.”

Jarrod Neck, project manager with Enriquez Construction, said a hole measuring 90 by 80 feet and 7 feet deep was dug for the new drainage system.

“Well, right now the biggest problem was the existing groundwater,” Neck said. “So, that requires us pumping the water out of the area that we’re digging and then letting it dry enough to where we have stable ground.”

The Quad Drainage Project will cost about $5 million and was made possible through surplus funding from the Interdisciplinary Engineering & Academic Building budget.

“When we added the new engineering building … we modified the ground in such a way that it’s pushing water towards the quad now,” said Juan Carlos Ortiz, university architect. “So, we need to address that because, before, when the building wasn’t there, water would flow around to where the building actually sits now. So there is an immediate need to address the drainage on top of the overall desire to really improve the campus drainage as a whole.”

The project is anticipated to be completed by December.

Ortiz said the tank will have to be maintained.

 “There’s a series of sediment basins inside the bottom of the tank that have to get vacuumed out every so often,” he said. “We’re trying to figure out what the frequency of that is. We don’t know that yet and we probably won’t know until we start using it and see how much silt and … solid material would be in the groundwater itself that would filter out to the bottom of the tank.

“And, you know, we got to maintain it in that respect to keep the capacities at where they are. But, other than that, there’s really no operational maintenance. It’s just a big tank that fills up with water and empties out of the system over time.”

The area will also provide a central circular campus activity lawn with rejuvenated landscaping and hardscape with new pedestrian-level lighting.

Sharp said the area can become a destination for concerts and other events.

“Then, on the north side of the circular lawn, there are existing live oak trees … and then building a deck underneath those [adds] another gathering space for students to go and sit in the shade,” he said. “The goal is to make sure that all the places that we’re not doing the stormwater management [in] could also provide additional amenities to the students and faculty at campus.”

 Ortiz said it is a nice development that will bring a lot of activities and improve students’ experience on campus.