The City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management (DWM), in conjunction with Atlanta Beltline, Inc. (ABI), constructed a storm water detention pond in the Historic Fourth Ward Park that serves as a functional amenity for the surrounding community. The project was part of the Clear Creek Combined Sewer Capacity Relief Project, undertaken in compliance with the requirements of a federal consent decree. It can detain flows from a 100-year storm event. The project involved construction of a nine-million-gallon storm water detention pond that captures storm water runoff from a drainage area of approximately 800 acres in the Clear Creek basin. It provides peak flow disintegration to the Highland Combined Sewer Trunk and capacity relief to the overall Clear Creek Combined Sewer Basin. The original design of the project called for the construction of an underground conveyance tunnel at an estimated price tag of $40 million. The storm water pond was constructed for about $14 million, creating a savings of approximately $26 million. It also created a functional, creative and sustainable feature for the neighborhood. Sustainable engineering components incorporated into the project included native landscaping, energy-efficient lighting, recycled granite boulders from the Bellwood Quarry, recycled stone wall seating and the planting of 300 caliper inches of landscaping to replace the 195 assessed inches removed during construction.
The Clear Creek Combined Sewer Capacity Relief Project is located one block south of the former City Hall East/Sears building and is bordered by North Avenue to the north, Rankin Street to the south, North Angier Avenue to the east and Glen Iris Drive to the west. Aside from the financial savings and the creation of an amenity that anchors Atlanta’s newest park, the project also remediated a site previously designated as a brownfield and reclaimed a part of Clear Creek that had long been paved over.
