Madison Recreation Complex Rain Gardens Report - Amazon Web ...
Madison Recreation Complex Rain Gardens Report on Project Scope and Status In December 2008 the Borough of Madison acquired 49 acres of land from Rock-Florham LLC. The focus of the acquisition was to limit the impacts of office complex development and encourage positive open space and recreational uses within the property in perpetuity. The property was annexed to the Borough of Madison in 2011 and an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for Madison Recreation Complex Artificial Turf Fields was completed. The Stormwater Management section of EIR called for rain gardens, bio-swales and vegetated filter strips to be considered in the design of the area to be developed. The area underwent soil tests, pre- and post-development runoff was calculated, and a plan to capture 100% of the runoff from the fields and parking lot was designed. The disturbed area for this project totaled 9.82 acres, including 5.92 acres of fields (2% impervious surface), 2.75 acres of lawn (10% impervious surface), and 1.17 acres of parking (98% impervious surface). The EIR determined that the Stormwater Management Plan for this project is in compliance with the State’s Stormwater Management Regulations. The Borough Engineer, Robert Vogel, PE, CME, prepared a schematic for three rain gardens, or bioretention basins, located adjacent to the parking lot area, which lies downhill from the turf fields and is separated from the access road by these rain gardens. On the other side of the access road lies an area of wetlands (ERI mapping). The schematic included a detailed list of plantings and mapping of their specific locations (see included documentation). The New Jersey Society of Municipal Engineers (NJSME) awarded the Madison Recreation Complex project the Municipal Construction Project of the year for 2012. The rain gardens were designed to capture and treat runoff as follows:
To serve the municipal parking area: one 1-foot deep 2,000 square foot garden and one 1 foot deep 1,200 square foot garden To serve the artificial turf field installation: one 2- foot deep 3,500 square foot garden
Combined these rain gardens are capable of capturing and treating over 10,000 cubic feet (approximately 75,000 gallons) of runoff from the NJ storm standard 2 hour rainfall of 1 ¼ inch. The three rain gardens were originally installed in April 2012 by Landtek Contractors. However, the contractors did not follow the plans, resulting in drainage problems including water and silt washing into wetlands and ponding that destroyed many of the original plantings. In addition, the contractor introduced invasives not specified in the engineer’s design. Sandy Kowalski, a Madison resident who has completed the Rutgers Rain Garden Certification Program, consulted with NJ Agriculture Experiment Station on how to ameliorate these conditions and obtained a list of suggested plans. During September and October 2012, renovation was undertaken by the Borough to address drainage issues. Among steps taken, the renovation included:
Creating two 3 foot deep drenches bordering large garden and filling with coarse gravel— performed by Madison Department of Public Works.
Core drilling, back filling with gravel and coarse sand, and remixing entire garden bed with topsoil and coarse sand, and remulching—performed by NJ Tree Foundation. Replanting of salvaged plants from the original design and planting of newly acquired plants – performed by various volunteers in the fall and spring, including students from Madison High School as their day of service project on May 31 (see Madison Eagle article included in documentation)
Plants species added during the spring 2013 replanting include:
Asclepias incarnata--Swamp Milkweed Iris Versicolor--Blue Flag Iris Vernonia noveboracensis--New York Ironweed Symphyotrichum novi-belgii--New York Aster Lobelia siphilitica--Blue Lobelia Penstemon digitalis—Beardtongue Liatris Spicata--Liatris
Plant donations were made by Friends of Madison Shade Tree, Inc. and J&M Home and Garden, Inc. (a Madison business). The Madison Garden Club is planning to provide signage to complement other signage in the complex. The rain gardens will be monitored for performance and additional plants will be added over time.
To serve the municipal parking area: one 1-foot deep 2,000 square foot garden and one 1 foot deep 1,200 square foot garden To serve the artificial turf field installation: one 2- foot deep 3,500 square foot garden
Combined these rain gardens are capable of capturing and treating over 10,000 cubic feet (approximately 75,000 gallons) of runoff from the NJ storm standard 2 hour rainfall of 1 ¼ inch. The three rain gardens were originally installed in April 2012 by Landtek Contractors. However, the contractors did not follow the plans, resulting in drainage problems including water and silt washing into wetlands and ponding that destroyed many of the original plantings. In addition, the contractor introduced invasives not specified in the engineer’s design. Sandy Kowalski, a Madison resident who has completed the Rutgers Rain Garden Certification Program, consulted with NJ Agriculture Experiment Station on how to ameliorate these conditions and obtained a list of suggested plans. During September and October 2012, renovation was undertaken by the Borough to address drainage issues. Among steps taken, the renovation included:
Creating two 3 foot deep drenches bordering large garden and filling with coarse gravel— performed by Madison Department of Public Works.
Core drilling, back filling with gravel and coarse sand, and remixing entire garden bed with topsoil and coarse sand, and remulching—performed by NJ Tree Foundation. Replanting of salvaged plants from the original design and planting of newly acquired plants – performed by various volunteers in the fall and spring, including students from Madison High School as their day of service project on May 31 (see Madison Eagle article included in documentation)
Plants species added during the spring 2013 replanting include:
Asclepias incarnata--Swamp Milkweed Iris Versicolor--Blue Flag Iris Vernonia noveboracensis--New York Ironweed Symphyotrichum novi-belgii--New York Aster Lobelia siphilitica--Blue Lobelia Penstemon digitalis—Beardtongue Liatris Spicata--Liatris
Plant donations were made by Friends of Madison Shade Tree, Inc. and J&M Home and Garden, Inc. (a Madison business). The Madison Garden Club is planning to provide signage to complement other signage in the complex. The rain gardens will be monitored for performance and additional plants will be added over time.
