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Category: East Tennessee Region

LandTechNews/BlogEast Tennessee Region

Geopier Rammed Aggregate Pier Systems

LandTech has gotten the opportunity to work on a wide variety of projects that has exposed us to unique construction technology. We’re performing construction surveying stakeout of a project that is utilizing a Rammed Aggregate Pier (RAP) system.

Geopier Foundation Company, a subsidiary of the Tensar Corporation, developed the first RAP system in 1989. According to their website:

Geopier Rammed Aggregate Pier™ (RAP) systems are efficient and cost effective Intermediate Foundation® solutions for the support of settlement sensitive structures.

Geopier® technologies are constructed by applying direct vertical ramming energy to densely compact successive thin lifts of high quality crushed rock to form high stiffness engineered elements. The vertical ramming action also increases the lateral stress and improves the soils surrounding the cavity, which results in foundation settlement control and greater bearing pressures for design.

Depending on site requirements, RAP systems can be installed using replacement or displacement methods. The unique installation process utilizes vertical impact ramming energy, resulting in unsurpassed strength and stiffness. RAP systems are used to reinforce good to poor soils, including soft to stiff clay and silt; loose to dense sand; organic silt and peat; variable, uncontrolled fill; and soils below the ground water table.

See more at: http://www.geopier.com/Geopier-Systems/Rammed-Aggregate-Pier-Systems

 

Jay Lewis Civil Engineering, East Tennessee Region, Land Development, Land Surveying, TN 0 Comments

Oil and Gas Well Location Plats

In recent years, oil and gas production in the United States has expanded, in part due to an innovative technique called “hydraulic fracturing”, commonly called “fracking”.  According to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_fracturing):

Hydraulic fracturing (also hydrofracturing, hydrofracking, fracking or fraccing) is a well-stimulation technique in which rock is fractured by a pressurized liquid. The process involves the high-pressure injection of ‘fracking fluid’ (primarily water, containing sand and other proppants suspended with the aid of gelling agents) into a wellbore to create cracks in the deep-rock formations through which natural gas, petroleum, and brine will flow more freely. When the hydraulic pressure is removed from the well, small grains of hydraulic fracturing proppants (either sand or aluminium oxide) hold the fractures open.

In Tennessee, the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation (TDEC) requires anyone who drills, deepens or reopens oil and gas wells to obtain an Oil and Gas Well Permit. You can find more information on the permitting process at TDEC’s website here: http://www.tennessee.gov/environment/article/permit-other-oil-and-gas-well-permit

According to TDEC’s instructions, the permit applicant must submit an oil and gas well location plat prepared by a Tennessee registered land surveyor, showing information such as (but not limited to):

  • proposed location of the oil and gas well site;
  • proposed location of all new ingress and egress;
  • location of all diversions, drilling pits, dikes, structures and facilities
  • proposed location of storage tanks and other surface disturbances

A listing of the complete well location plat requirements can be found in the TDEC Oil and Gas Program Rules, Chapter 0400-52-03 Well Location Plats, here: http://www.state.tn.us/sos/rules/0400/0400-52/0400-52-03.20130618.pdf

The civil engineering and land surveying staff at LandTech has experience assisting the oil and gas exploration industry with the preparation of oil and gas well location plats. Contact LandTech if you have any questions about your project.  http://landtechco.com/contact_us

Jay Lewis Civil Engineering, East Tennessee Region, Land Surveying, TN 0 Comments

Zoning Appeals

One of the earliest steps in the site design process is a review of the Zoning Ordinance to determine requirements for a particular property based on it’s zoning classification (such as residential, business, commercial, industrial, etc.) The Zoning Ordinance contains information that is relevant to both the land surveyor and civil engineer.

In Knoxville or Knox County, you can find the applicable zoning classification for a particular parcel using the KGIS website: http://www.kgis.org/KGISMaps/Map.htm

Once we’ve identified the zoning classification for a particular property, we will review the local zoning ordinance for a summary of the requirements.

For the City of Knoxville, you can review the Zoning Ordinance here:  https://www.municode.com/library/tn/knoxville/codes/code_of_ordinances?nodeId=APXBZORE

For Knox County, you can review the Zoning Ordinance here: http://archive.knoxmpc.org/zoning/KnoxCounty.pdf

If a proposed site design cannot meet all of the requirements for a particular zoning classification, the owner can apply for a variance. In Knoxville, an applicant submits a site plan to the City’s Plans Review and Inspections Division, and the requested variances are presented to the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) for an approval or denial of the requested variance.

You can find more information about the City BZA here: http://knoxvilletn.gov/government/boards_commissions/board_of_zoning_appeals/

You can find more information about the Knox County BZA here: http://www.knoxcounty.org/codes/bza.php

If you have any questions about zoning variance for your project, contact LandTech at http://landtechco.com/contact_us

Jay Lewis Civil Engineering, East Tennessee Region, Knox County, Knoxville, Land Development, Land Surveying, TN 0 Comments

Post Construction Certifications

An important step for a land development project is confirmation that the final site was constructed in accordance with the design plans. In the City of Knoxville, this step is called a Development Certification.

According to the City’s Land Development Manual, or LDM (website link LDM):

“An approved development certification is one of the items required prior to the release of any bond (also called Performance and Indemnity Agreement) that has been collected by the Stormwater Engineering Division. The development certification is issued by the Stormwater Engineering Division after all construction has been completed in accordance with the design plans and requirements of the Knoxville Stormwater and Street Ordinance.

Appendix A contains a site review checklist for final approval of a constructed site development project and the associated as-built drawing.

Every as-built drawing must be properly certified by the appropriate design professional engineer and the registered land surveyor.”

Therefore, the development certification involves both the civil engineer and the land surveyor.  Land Tech staff includes both professional civil engineers and registered land surveyors that can assist with the development certification process.

Contact us if you have any questions about this process for your project. http://landtechco.com/home

 

Jay Lewis Civil Engineering, East Tennessee Region, Knox County, Knoxville, Land Development, Land Surveying, TN 0 Comments

Civil Engineering and Land Surveying Websites

The internet is a technology that has altered our society in many ways, and the civil engineering and land surveying professions are no different. There are many websites we routinely use when working on land development projects. Below are a few examples.

1. Knoxville Code of Ordinances : We use this website to get information on zoning and stormwater regulations for the City of Knoxville.

2. Knoxville-Knox County Metropolitan Planning Commission : This website has information on subdivision regulations, and zoning ordinances for both the City of Knoxville and Knox County.

3. City of Knoxville Engineering Department : This site contains links to various engineering divisions, the BMP Manual, the Land Development Manual, and KGIS mapping for the City of Knoxville.

4. Knox County Engineering Department : This site contains information for the Knox County Engineering Department, such as their stormwater manual and contact information.

5. TDEC Water Pollution Map : This Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation (TDEC) website provides water quality information for streams and water bodies in the State.

6. USGS Map Locator & Downloader : You can find and download the most current or historic U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) maps, which includes roads, contours, streams, and other relevant mapping information.

7. OPUS : The National Geodetic Survey (NGS) provides an Online Positioning User Service (OPUS) for uploading GPS data and obtaining geodetic (latitude and longitude) or state plane coordinates.

These are just a few of the websites we routinely use to acquire civil engineering and land surveying data needed for our land development projects. If you have any questions about your project, please contact our LandTech staff.

For more information about us, and contact information, visit our website:  http://landtechco.com/home.

Jay Lewis Civil Engineering, East Tennessee Region, Knox County, Knoxville, Land Development, Land Surveying, TN 0 Comments

Permitting for Construction in a Stormwater Ditch

LandTech was recently contacted by a property owner in Knox County, Tennessee about providing a design for a pipe culvert in his side yard. Approximately 25% of the property is isolated by a stormwater ditch crossing the parcel. The property owner wants to install a pipe culvert crossing for easy access across the swale to the isolated portion of the property.

Sometimes a seemingly simple project involves numerous regulatory issues.

When we visited the site, we noticed a small amount of water flowing in the ditch. This would mean the ditch is technically a “stream”. Construction in a stream requires an Aquatic Resource Alteration Permit, or ARAP, from the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation (TDEC). More information about ARAP’s can be found here:

http://www.tn.gov/environment/article/permit-aquatic-resource-alteration-permit

We also discovered this portion of the property is in a FEMA 100-year special flood hazard area. This means the culvert would need to be sized to pass a 100-year flood without impacting the water surface elevation. If you’re interesting in finding the limits of any 100-year special flood hazard area, visit the FEMA Flood Map Service Center website:

http://msc.fema.gov/portal

Needless to say, this project is more complicated than the property owner anticipated, but LandTech can ease your burden by providing the advice and professional land surveying and civil engineering services needed to navigate the complexities of a project like this.

For more information about your project or our services, visit our website  http://landtechco.com/home or give us a call.

Jay Lewis Civil Engineering, East Tennessee Region, Knox County, Knoxville, Land Development, Land Surveying, TN 0 Comments

Waters of the United States Legislation

The U.S. House of Representatives recently passed legislation to restrict the EPA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) from:

 ….developing, finalizing, adopting, implementing, applying, administering, or enforcing the proposed rule entitled, “Definition of ‘Waters of the United States’ Under the Clean Water Act,” issued on April 21, 2014…..

Of course, the legislation would also need to pass the U.S. Senate to become law, which is doubtful this year.

https://beta.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/5078

This legislation impacts land development professionals, such as civil engineers and land surveyors, because of impacts to stream and wetland permit regulations. New Federal rules could reassign regulatory jurisdiction from State Regulators (such as the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation) and Local Regulators (such as the City of Knoxville or Knox County) to Federal Regulators such as the EPA or USACE.

This will definitely be a topic of interest in upcoming sessions of Congress. Stay tuned.

Jay Lewis Civil Engineering, East Tennessee Region, Knox County, Knoxville, Land Development, Land Surveying, TN 0 Comments

Sewage Disposal Systems in Tennessee

An important element of land development projects is wastewater disposal. For projects in areas without public sanitary sewer systems, a subsurface sewage disposal system typically will be required.

The Regulations to Govern Subsurface Sewage Disposal Systems can be found on the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation (TDEC) website, here: http://www.tn.gov/environment/water/septic-disposal_regulations.shtml

There is a misconception that the only option for a subsurface sewage disposal system is a standard septic tank with a conventional disposal (drain) field). But the Tennessee SDS regulations also include sewage disposal alternatives such as advanced treatment systems, low pressure pipe systems, and subsurface drip disposal (SDD) systems, to name a few. In many instances these alternative systems provide options to increase development density.

If you have any questions about the sanitary sewer system for your project, contact LandTech at http://landtechco.com/home

Jay Lewis Civil Engineering, East Tennessee Region, Land Development, TN 0 Comments

Knoxville Stormwater Construction Permits

Civil Engineers in Knoxville and other regions of East Tennessee are well aware that stormwater management has become an increasingly important permitting component of land development projects. The Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation (TDEC) is the State Agency regulating stormwater discharges from construction sites.

So, who is required to get a permit? According to the TDEC website (http://www.tn.gov/environment/permits/conststrm.shtml#who):

Operators of construction sites involving clearing, grading or excavation that result in an area of disturbance of one or more acres, and activities that result in the disturbance of less than one acre if it is part of a larger common plan of development or sale.

What is required to be submitted?

Applicants must submit the following information:

» A completed and signed Notice of Intent (NOI) for Construction Activity – Stormwater Discharges (see link below). The NOI must include a map on 8 ½ inch by 11 inch paper with boundaries 1-2 miles outside the site property with the site and construction area outlined and the receiving water or receiving storm sewer highlighted and identified. It is preferable for this map to be the appropriate portion of a USGS 7.5-minute quadrangle map.

» A site-specific SWPPP (Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan) must be developed and submitted with the NOI. The SWPPP must be developed, implemented, and updated according to Part 3 of the CGP (Construction General Permit).

Completed Notices of Intent must be sent to the appropriate Environmental Field Office.

The City of Knoxville has been designated by TDEC as a “Qualified Local Program” (QLP). According to TDEC, the “main intent [of a QLP] is to eliminate the duplicative efforts of the current permitting process” by reducing the requirement to make submittals to local and state agencies.

The City of Knoxville has two good resources for additional information on stormwater permitting:

1. Land Development Manual, Chapter 5 – Permitting Requirements:   http://www.cityofknoxville.org/engineering/ldmanual/LDMCH05.pdf

2. BMP Manual, Chapter 6 – Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan: http://www.cityofknoxville.org/engineering/bmp_manual/BMPCH6.pdf

If you have questions about stormwater permitting for your project, contact LandTech using our website: http://landtechco.com/home

Jay Lewis Civil Engineering, East Tennessee Region, Knox County, Knoxville, Land Development, TN 0 Comments

Civil Engineering Land Development Design – Water and Sewer Systems

The life blood of a land development project is the availability of water and capability for sanitary waste disposal.  The availability of public water and sanitary sewer services greatly affects how civil engineers and land surveyors would propose to develop a parcel.

For example, in the City of Knoxville Zoning Regulations, the property area regulations for properties zoned R-1 (Section 2.1.1.E.5):

http://library.municode.com/HTML/11098/level4/APXBZORE_ARTIVSPDIRE_S2BADI_2.1REDI.html#APXBZORE_ARTIVSPDIRE_S2BADI_2.1REDI_2.1.1LODEREDI

a. For each house, and building accessory thereto, served by a sanitary sewer system, there shall be a lot area of not less than seven thousand five hundred (7,500) square feet.

c. For those dwellings and buildings accessory thereto not served by a sanitary sewer system there shall be a minimum lot area of twenty thousand (20,000) square feet per dwelling unit; however, a greater area may be required based on recommendations by the health department because of inadequate percolation.

Therefore, a one (1) acre parcel with sanitary sewer systems could be subdivided into approximately five (5) lots, but only two (2) lots without sewer service……less revenue producing parcels.

A review of the property is crucial prior to development, including a determination of water and sanitary sewer availability and zoning regulations.

If you have questions about developing your property, please contact LandTech using our website at: http://landtechco.com/home

Jay Lewis Civil Engineering, East Tennessee Region, Knox County, Knoxville, Land Development, TN 0 Comments