Design, Engineering, Installation, and O&M Considerations for Incorporating Stormwater Low Impact Development (LID) Practices in Urban, Suburban, Rural, and Brownfield Sites

National trends for greener construction and comprehensive stormwater management are resulting in changes in the design and requirements for stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs). Practices such as porous pavement/pavers, bioretention areas, and rainwater recovery are becoming more common at sites across the country, with the engineering designs and specifications evolving as the demand increases. Situations occur where regulations and LID site design requirements are being put in place before the existing site condition information that is necessary to determine the requirements for LID designs, construction/installation, and maintenance needs have been collected. This paper discusses how site conditions drove stormwater LID designs and implementation on three different project sites. The projects include: a suburban/rural mixed use project on a green-field site, a dense residential development built on a former gravel pit site; and an urban mixed-use redevelopment on a highly impacted City of Boston site. While local review processes often required specific LID practices for stormwater management, site conditions resulted in either modifications or elimination of certain LID practices, especially those relying on recharge. Additionally, the need for detailed site condition information very early in the planning stage was required. For each site, modifications to the details/designs/specifications and operation and maintenance plans for specific LID BMPs based on site conditions were required. No standardized details were applicable for all sites.