Campus-wide Stormwater Flooding Analysis & Design of Remediation

College of the Holy Cross / Worcester, MA

The Holy Cross campus covers over 175 acres covering most of Pakachoag Hill and abutting the Middle River, I-290, and State Routes 12, 146 and 122A. The campus was carefully built into the north and east facing slopes of one of the highest of Worcester’s Seven Hills.

The nearly 300 feet of elevation drop across the vast campus grounds creates stunning views throughout the school’s 19th century brick gothic architecture. The school’s strong topography also creates significant problems for stormwater runoff and flood control. Because the heart of the campus was built within the steeper side of the Pakachoag Hill, stormwater runoff waters can achieve very high velocities when travelling cross country and through the college’s aging underground drainage infrastructure. Frequently, even small rain events push manhole covers into the sky as the existing system struggles to cope with the intensity, duration, and velocity challenges of most storms.

Waterfield Design Group has been retained by Holy Cross to perform a comprehensive stormwater flood analysis of the entire 175 acre campus. Our work started with a full review of archive files and on-site survey of a substantial amount of missing data. We reconciled old data with new data to create a corrected asbuilt base plan of existing conditions. From there, a complex stormwater runoff analysis will be performed, including the creation of a 175 acre computer model replicating every aspect of the college campus. We will reconcile model behavior against actual rain events, adjusting the computer’s predictive indices to match real world outcomes. From there, engineering solutions for the college’s most problematic flooding areas will be prepared and built.