Storm water management was the first regulatory consideration for the development of Canton Crossing, a new shopping center located near the Inner Harbor in Baltimore, Md. The developer, BCP Investors LLC of Baltimore, hired Century Eng. to design the 31-acre site for a commercial development that would include a Harris Teeter grocery outlet and a Target store. Concrete pipe was the product specified to manage storm water to be stored on site and slowly released into the city’s storm water management system.
It was important to conserve as much surface area as possible for the construction and servicing of the two anchor stores, as well as an additional 30 stores and restaurants planned for the shopping center. In addition, there was design consideration for soils that had become unfavorable for development due to previous business operations: The BCP development was once the site of a bustling industrial area, but some of the lands in and around Canton have been transformed into light commercial and residential areas, prompting a surge in the need for commercial developments for people moving into the city.
Century Eng. needed a product for managing storm water that could withstand soil conditions that had changed due to past industrial activities, while securely storing up to 271,000 gal of storm water to be released at a predetermined rate. Because the structure would be located under an area designed for a parking lot, it would need to be constructed with products and material that could endure the weight of trucks and automobiles. The design engineer specified a manifold storage system consisting of nine parallel lines of concrete pipe, each 128 ft long. This system needed to be as watertight as possible, stable and resistant to aggressive soil conditions. Standard reinforced concrete pipe has the capability to withstand varying weight and soil conditions.
Gray & Son Inc., a local contractor from Timonium, Md., contacted Rinker Materials of Frederick, Md., to supply the pipe used to install the manifold storage system. Rinker Materials supplied 1,152 ft of 72-in.-diameter Class 3 concrete pipe, complete with a watertight O-ring joint using a neoprene gasket to allow the manifold system to withstand the harsh soil conditions.
The finished project came in on time and on budget and was well received by Canton Crossing.
