East Street Renewal Project

What was the Challenge?

B&L was retained by the City to solve a flooding issue located in a low point along East Street near the Rensselaer train station and it’s heavily used parking facilities.  After developing an innovative design recommending Green Infrastructure, B&L suggested and prepared the documents to apply for a NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) Green Innovations Grant (GIGP) to fund the project.  Six months later, the City was awarded nearly $1.0 from EFC to construct the B&L design as it provided a sustainable solution.

How did Barton & Loguidice provide a solution?

The project consisted of the installation of porous pavement, a curb side bioretention system, rain garden, new curb installation, removal of asphalt and gravel, turf establishment, vegetation planting, and a road diet along East Street and within the CDTA parking lot.  For this specific project, the underlying soil conditions were not appropriate for typical raingardens, bioretention, porous pavement systems as they do not provide the required infiltration capabilities.  B&L’s solution was to install a geo-membrane liner surrounding the Green Infrastructure systems along with a complex underdrain system to isolate the practice from the high groundwater table and provide the necessary water quality improvements to the collected stormwater.

Why was the project a success?

Our attention to detail, responsiveness and coordination with our Client, EFC, and other concurrent projects within the project area during the feasibility study and design phase of the project was continuous throughout the duration of the project.  Careful attention to design details and an innovative design resulted in a successful project for the City of Rensselaer.  B&L provided preliminary and final design services, including ground survey, mapping, soil borings and infiltration tests, SEQR documents, the development of construction plans, bid documents, specifications and estimate as well as construction administration and part time inspection.  The project was completed in October 2019 and was under budget at a total cost of $825,000. In 2020 the project won the APWA Capital Branch Project of the Year award in the Environmental Category.