Crow Creek Drainage Improvements

This award-winning project provided relief from flooding in a historic area of Tulsa. The design team created a park-like detention facility into which a new storm sewer relief line could outlet, reducing the chance of flooding for 62 homeowners and removing 39 homes from the regulatory floodplain.

When GUY was selected to engineer this project, the plan was to connect to an existing junction box under the Broken Arrow Expressway (BAX). However, upon further research, GUY determined that connecting to this junction box posed several challenges, including extended lane closures on the BAX and increased water flow downstream. GUY then evaluated seven additional alternatives before determining the best solution was for the storm sewer relief line to outlet into a dry, grass-lined detention facility immediately upstream of the BAX. While this solution required the acquisition of four properties, it eliminated impacts to the BAX and prevented negative impacts to the downstream storm system. This solution not only mitigated the flooding problem and removed the regulatory floodplain from 39 residences, but it also saved construction costs, reduced traffic disruption, and provided the neighborhood with a park.

The project also included installation of 1,400ft of storm sewer relief line, 10 manholes, 32 inlets, and 1,100ft of miscellaneous storm sewer connections. The detention facility used turf reinforcement mat to limit erosion.