McKechnie Field, the spring training facility for the Pittsburgh Pirates located in Bradenton, Fla., underwent a dramatic renovation, reopening in February 2013 for the ballpark’s 90th anniversary. In addition to the $15 million renovation of the park, the existing outdated stormwater facility was modified and relocated.
“The original pond was not designed to current water quality or quantity standards, which meant the pond would likely have to be expanded,” said Jeb Mulock, P.E., project manager and senior vice president for ZNS Engineering. “Furthermore we were adding a significant amount of impervious surface to the project which directly impacted our post-stormwater discharge rate.”
There were no plans to add land to the overall project area, so the team had to find a way to increase the storm water vault capacity without sacrificing space for new park features such as parking, fan seating, or player facilities.
Engineers looked to Thirsty Duck for a solution that would maximize the efficiency of the discharge weir and minimize the footprint of the stormwater facility.
The city installed an ER-202 dual restriction floating outlet and skimmer in the new wet detention pond that serves the field. The floating outlet and skimmer was installed in a Florida Department of Transportation Type C precast inlet and produces a peak constant flow rate of 19.8 cubic feet per second, with a total rise of 2.5 feet.
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A dual restriction ER Series floating outlet and skimmer restricts flow through both an inner orifice and through a moving interstitial opening. The moving inner orifice makes the ER series floating outlet and skimmer most effective when constant flow rate is required in a high tailwater application.
“The result was a pond footprint that was considerably smaller than normal,” Mulock said. “Overall the product definitely achieves what its creators are stating it can.”
