Silver Creek

The Kent County Drain Commission has requested an investigation of the redesign of three detention basins along the Silver Creek Drain. The Silver Creek Drain is a large, underground, concrete storm sewer which flows through southern portions of Grand Rapids, and eventually empties into the infamously polluted Plaster Creek. The basins are designed to detain water for an extended period of time during large storm events to control flooding. The ample space in the basins is currently underutilized for smaller storm events. The goal of the team is to make designs that will provide treatment for smaller rain events. We chose this project because all four of us are civil engineers interested in water resources and environmental improvements, and this project will allow us to exercise our interest and knowledge in these areas. The three detention basins that were evaluated are the Calvin Basin, the Southfield Basin, and the Otsego Basin. The most upstream basin is the Calvin Basin and the existing conditions include a creek with constant base flow through the center of the basin. There are two additional inlets that contribute flow only during storm events. The group proposes creating filtering beds using sand as the filtering media. There will be berms outlining each of the beds in order to contain the water during a storm event. The next basin is the Southfield Basin which is only utilized during very large storm events. The proposed design includes a new inlet at the eastern end that will allow water to flow into a proposed earthen channel during base flow. The final basin being evaluated is the Otsego Basin. The group has determined that it will not be feasible to implement any design changes for this basin.

The goal of the team was to evaluate design alternatives for 3 of 4 detention basins along the Silver Creek Line. The objective was to create constructible designs for the Calvin and Southfield Basins.