Challenge

Due to a change in landlord preference, the existing access road for this Access Road Relocation project needed to be re-routed to enter the existing tower compound from the opposite direction.  While simple on paper, the new route of the access road crossed over an existing pond that required filling as well as streams that required both US Army Corps of Engineer and NC Division of Environmental Quality permitting in order for us to cross.  Adding to these challenges, the planning and stormwater requirements of Orange County, NC required rigorous design and permitting to push the site through to final close out.  Although the new access road required a large disturbed area, TEP also needed to be conscious of limiting disturbance to under 1 acre to avoid National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permitting which would further complicate and delay the process.

Result

After receiving the survey data from our in-house crew, our Civil Engineers designed the road across the pond as well as culverts, ditches, check dams, inlets, outlets, all while paying careful attention to the parameters of our limited disturbance limits.  Atypical to most tower sites, Orange County’s regulations required the design and installation of an underground BMP (Best Management Practice) to retain part of the increased property runoff quantity that is linked to the impervious area from the new access road.  TEP used Civil 3D to design the road and BMP to meet the stringent requirements provided by the county and regularly visited the site to ensure the project was properly installed.  Fighting through setbacks such as Hurricane Matthew and drainage issues during the construction stage, TEP was able to work quickly with the General Contractor to resolve any problems that arose throughout the duration of construction.  Despite both initial design challenges as well as unforeseen setbacks while working with a tough jurisdiction, the road and associated stormwater measures were installed at the end of 2016.