DESCRIPTION: The Shell Point drainage basin area is geographically located on Port Royal Island within Beaufort County, SC.. Through the period of 3-8-2017 to 2-5-2020 Beaufort County received over 49 flooding complaints from residents that live within the Shell Point drainage basin. The drainage basin encompasses approximately 1.3 mi2 and features single-family residential, multi-family residential, and commercial land uses. Flooding complaints included ditches, streets, and yards to the extent that residents are unable to leave their homes due to streets that are not passable during smaller more frequent as well as larger storm events. A preliminary drainage study (by others) identified 12 areas of proposed improvements which includes approximately: 41,163 LF of right of way ditch restoration, 4,372 LF of culvert cleaning, 6,990 LF of channel restoration, and 985 LF of stormwater management system improvements.

The J. Bragg Consulting team was tasked with providing all aspects of program delivery including, but not limited to, Program Management, public outreach, hydrologic and hydraulic analysis using PCSWMM, HY-8 and the SCDOT Unit Hydrograph (UH) Hydrology Method, management of 7 sub consultants, design for both SCDOT and Beaufort County stormwater management systems, stormwater management system condition assessment, and environmental permitting through USACE and SCDHEC OCRM.  The team is also providing grant application assistance for the SC Office of Resilience grant (SCOR), Flood Mitigation Assistance grant (FMA), and the SC Rural Infrastructure Authority grant (RIA).

CHALLENGES: The Shell Point Drainage Improvements Design, Engineering, and Permitting program has many facets for the delivery of multiple independent construction projects ranging from stormwater management system design to the completed products. Depending on project funding several projects could be ongoing or overlap during the program. This will require coordination with Beaufort County Staff, several engineering disciplines, residents, stakeholders and contractors in order to deliver a successful program. 

Coordination of design efforts due to competing design standards between Beaufort County Stormwater and the SCDOT. To accomplish this effort J. Bragg coordinated issuance of an Intergovernmental Agreement between Beaufort County and SCDOT to streamline design reviews and agreements toward design standards for work within the SCDOT right-of-way. 

RESPONSIBILITIES: J. Bragg Consulting oversaw all aspects of the program development and performed several items including, but not limited to, program management; stormwater management system condition assessment; preparation of the stormwater management system condition assessment report; stakeholder/public education & outreach program with public meetings; and preliminary construction cost estimating. Coordination of sub-consultants and QA/QC on all submittals were also provided.