Designing a drainage system to keep the water out for good

Kensington Oval Re-Development

The stage was set. Barbados was to host several of the 2007 ICC Cricket World Cup games. In preparation, significant demolition and re-construction of the national stadium—in a very short time frame—was proposed in 2006. Historically, the western portion of the cricket field would flood during extreme rainfall, preventing reliable use of the stadium. Our team of civil and drainage engineers provided site-wide drainage design and technical oversight of the drainage installation works during the construction stage of the project.

The particular design challenge with the Kensington Oval site was its close proximity to sea level. The primary drainage system—to which the cricket field, roofs, and all hard surfaces are now drained—consists of an extensive “French”/infiltration drain, using 230 No StormChamber ® systems (all connected) in a buried trench along the cricket field’s perimeter. The chambers are parabolic in cross-section and open at their bases, respectively providing stormwater storage and the ability for stored water to percolate into the ground. An additional feature of the stormwater drainage system is the linkage of the system to a stormwater pump station, which was designed to pump waters in excess of the chamber’s storage and percolation capabilities into the sea.

With stadium reconstruction works completed and only days to go before the opening of the games, there was a terrible island wide storm, which resulted in significant flooding throughout Barbados especially along Fontabelle Road, located immediately west of the stadium. There was an instant fear the stadium—in particular the field—was flooded and that potential damage could hamper the start of the games. However, the stadium operators were delighted to discover the field and stadium completely drained; the stadium went on to successfully host several of the games.

Our design team is particularly proud of this achievement; through teamwork, rigorous team management, and timely design reviews, we were able to solve a problem which had historically plagued the stadium since its inception.