Engineers create innovative solution for compact living and avoid disruptive excavations, by installing stormwater detention tanks in concrete slabs under homes.
Sunland’s Carre Residences in Springvale is a boutique medium density townhouse development with 239 lots surrounding a central community park.
While the number of houses is extensive, there is a limited road reserve where all required facilities needed to be located.
This meant engineers at Taylors had to find a way to fit in all the stormwater infrastructure and pipes for the development, while meeting set requirements from different authorities.
Taylors Engineering and Project Management Operations Manager, John Yalden, said the Engineering team created a solution by locating the stormwater tanks in the slab beneath the houses to provide more room in the road reserve.
“Installing the stormwater storage within the slabs avoided having ugly water tanks in view and it provided residents with more room in their backyards,” Mr Yalden said.
“The use of in-slab storage also meant the developers didn’t have to construct large stormwater infrastructure and pipes beneath the road pavement, which left more room for other infrastructure.
“It also minimised the road reserve which increased the number of lots that could fit on the land.”
Mr Yalden said the stormwater detention facilities that were installed within the slabs are used for the detention and reuse of excess water runoff.
“These storage tanks are necessary for a project like this because when constructing on the land, there are increases in surface runoff, which can exceed the capacity of downstream infrastructure,” Mr Yalden said.
“Taylors also designed a stormwater quality treatment system that was constructed beneath the roads, to allow the project to achieve stormwater quality requirements without having to build a dedicated treatment facility.”
The other major challenge for this development was the construction of a 225mm diameter sewer outfall across the adjoining Westall Road intersection, one of Springvale’s major roads.
Taylors Engineering Project Delivery Manager, Andrew Nguyen, said, “Westall Road is an extremely busy road so we used trenchless technology to construct the sewer as it needed to be done without open excavation.
“We used laser boring technology and constructed a deep bore shaft into the road at points where traffic considerations could be managed.
“Using this technology proved to be more sustainable because there was no need for all the construction machinery that an open trench would require.
“The sewer is now designed to last for more than 100 years.”
The Carre Residences development is being constructed in seven stages over a three year period.
Taylors has facilitated the completion of the civil works and Sunland has begun building the development’s final houses.
“In our design we had to make sure everything integrated well with Sunland’s building designs and that there was a smooth transition between our civil work and the dwelling construction.
“Sunland was appreciative of our stormwater solution and road design for the development and construction is well underway.”
