CEE Capstone Team Wins 2nd at International Water Environment Federation Student Design Competition
A Northeastern Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) 2020 Capstone team placed second in the International Water Environment Federation Student Design Competition. The team, named Evergreen and comprised of CEE 2020 graduates Sam Kinnaly, Kate Engler, Annie Lamonte and Emma Totsubo, previously won the NEWEA Regional Competition in May. The competition was conducted virtually during the Water Environment Federation’s Technical Exhibition and Conference, which is the largest annual water quality event in the world.
The Northeastern team placed second in the Environment Competition, with 28 participating schools, representing 22 member associations and 5 countries.
The winning Northeastern team prepared a design for the main entrance and parking lot at Belmont’s Rock Meadow Conservation Area for their client, the Belmont Conservation Commission. The proposed design is meant to improve the existing conditions, which include an undersized lot, an eroded and uneven surface, and no stormwater management system. Evergreen has built on a conceptual Master Plan by modifying and detailing the proposed design of the parking lot layout, stormwater management system, grading, and site improvements. The final design was selected using decision matrices, surveys of the client and community, and informed engineering recommendations. The team’s lot design provides a 117% increase in parking capacity. A vegetated filter strip was included to treat the stormwater runoff from the driveway, and a bioswale and rain garden were designed to treat and filter the stormwater runoff from the parking lot. Detailed grading plans show a 3-4% decrease in maximum driveway slope and cross slopes which direct stormwater runoff to the green infrastructure for treatment and infiltration. Additional site improvements were also selected to bolster aesthetics.
The project was developed during the spring 2020 capstone course under the supervision of Prof. Onnis-Hayden of the Civil and Environmental Engineering department in partnership with the Belmont Conservation Commission.