RK&K joined community leaders for the ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the re-opening of the Wrenn’s Mill Refuse and Recycling Center, the second-most heavily used refuse and recycling center in Isle of Wight County, Virginia.
The Water Resources team provided design work for new features, which Associate Engineer Marina Doyle, PE explained, were needed to reduce recurrent flooding and traffic.
“By providing a separate entrance and exit, traffic flow was improved on site. The addition of stormwater facilities and regrading the site will remove on-site ponding and achieve the required nutrient reduction,” she said.
Making this design a reality included first regrading and paving the site to eliminate low spots and provide a uniform surface for stormwater to flow across. The stormwater is collected and temporarily stored in dry swales which treat the runoff by allowing the stormwater to infiltrate the underlying soil media before flowing through a perforated underdrain. The underdrain then conveys the flow to a Virginia Department of Transportation control structure and to an outfall pipe that discharges to the existing roadside ditch.
The refuse and recycling center closed in September for the redesign. With the flooding and traffic issues resolved, Doyle said these improvements will decrease the time spent on-site by community users and improve the facility’s overall functionality.
“I feel a sense of accomplishment knowing for years to come both users and employees of the Wrenn’s Mill Refuse and Recycling Center will have an improved experience. This is one of the first projects I have been intimately engaged with through the entire design process up to construction completion. I know I’ll remember this project as one of the firsts of many to come in my career,” said Doyle.
