Client
Black & Veatch Corporation
______

Location
Ft. Pierce,  Florida
_________

Project Costs
$10,000
______

Start Date
January 2007
______

Completion Date
February 2007

Scope

In 2003 the South Florida Water Management District (SFWMD)  decided to pursue a dual track for the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA) Reservoir Project. While the Project Delivery Team, led by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), continued with the development of the Project Implementation Report, the SFWMD proceeded with the reservoir design. 

The objectives of the reservoir project were to improve the timing of environmental water supply deliveries to stormwater treatment areas and the Water Conservation Areas, to reduce Lake Okeechobee’s regulatory releases to coastal estuaries, to meet supplemental agricultural irrigation demands, and to increase flood protection within the EAA.

The original reservoir design called for an earth embankment with armored slopes on the interior of the reservoir.  The USACE proposed a new design for the interior slopes consisting of a wide bench mid-slope covered with riprap.

BCI joined with Black & Veatch Corporation to review the design of this wave-break bench on the upstream embankment. BCI performed a peer review of the methodology and numerical model used for wave setup computation, and calculated the wave height and wave runup for the design conditions.

Following BCI’s evaluation, the original reservoir design was implemented, saving the SFWMD an estimated $10 million in construction costs.