The New Jersey Motorsports Park in Millville, N.J., is a three-phase, multifaceted complex with a 4.01-mile raceway as its focal point.
Phase I required the movement of approximately 400,000 cu yd of material as part of the creation of six infiltration basins. Storm water management facilities have been designed and approved by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) in accordance with the Stormwater Management Rule (N.J.A.C. 7:8), following guidelines outlined in the New Jersey Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs) manual.
In addition to the basins, the project employed the use of nonstructural low-impact development storm water management measures for pretreatment of storm water runoff prior to it reaching the basins. Because there was no curbing proposed for the project, impervious areas were disconnected from storm sewers, allowing filtration and removal of pollutants by surface vegetation. ( Click here for a bigger version of the image. )
Sale of this property to New Jersey Motorsports Park required Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval in the form of a land release. FAA regulations require that all storm water management basins be designed so as not to attract waterfowl and to drain completely within 48 hours. The biggest challenge was the proper sizing of the six infiltration basins without impacting the racetrack. In addition, in order to construct what is one of the longest road courses in the U.S., it was necessary to pipe a large drainage ditch that traverses nearly the entire width of the property. The drainage ditch conveys 108 acres of runoff from the airport and necessitated 1,760 ln ft of 84-in. culvert.
Software Solutions
StormCAD was utilized to size approximately 16,000 ln ft of storm pipe, the design of six infiltration basins was performed using PondPack and HEC-Ras and FlowMaster were utilized to design the culvert to pipe and existing drainage ditch.
The most significant impact came from the use of PondPack. The physical challenges of the site were complicated by the need to satisfy stringent storm water regulations—and sometimes conflicting requirements—set by NJDEP and the FAA.
To meet the groundwater recharge requirement of NJDEP, storm water needs to remain on site and slowly percolate into the ground. The FAA's requirement for storm water basins is that they must completely drain within 48 hours to deter waterfowl from congregating. Detailed infiltration calculations were required for the project to demonstrate that the requirements of both regulatory agencies were met. PondPack enabled these calculations to be performed with ease and efficiency.
“Throughout the design process, I found the Bentley software to be an enormous asset,” said Rebecca L. Koze, P.E., project engineer at Paulus, Sokolowski & Sartor LLC . “In particular, the ease with which PondPack enabled the infiltration calculations of the six storm water basins to be performed is far superior to all the other programs I have used.”
StormCAD was utilized in the design of the site’s storm pipe. The most significant benefit of using StormCAD for storm pipe calculations is the ease with which revisions can be made. By performing the project’s required storm pipe design revisions in the program, a significant amount of time was saved. It enables tracking and updating of design information and provides unique coordination between calculation, plan view drawings and profiles.
A major aspect of the project design consisted of the piping of an existing drainage ditch; 1,760 ln ft of 84-in. culvert pipe was designed to accommodate the runoff from approximately 195 acres. PondPack was again utilized to calculate the runoff volume to the ditch. Prior to modeling the ditch in its existing and proposed conditions in HEC-Ras, FlowMaster was used to calculate the culvert size required.
At its completion, the New Jersey Motorsports Park will be a powerful magnet and catalyst for smart growth throughout the Millville and Cumberland County, N.J., region.
