The town of Bonifay, Florida, faces frequent flooding in its downtown area that caused property damage and disrupted daily activities for residents and businesses. We were asked to design a solution to reduce flooding while creating a usable community space. Our final design included a stormwater detention pond that also functioned as a public park.
We designed the detention pond to handle stormwater intake for a 100-year storm. We built it 118 feet above sea level, above the FEMA flood plain. The natural bank of the pond sat at the groundwater level, two to three feet below the surface. Due to high inflow from the northern end, the pond occupied much of the parcel. We primarily controlled outflow using a rectangular suppressed weir that output into an existing canal at the south end of the lot. The outflow matched the previous allowable outflow in tandem with another output weir from the southern side of the pond. We lined the pond with native plant species to filter harmful compounds such as nitrides and nitrates from the stormwater.
For community use as a public park, we added a concrete trail around the detention pond. We installed a simple truss pedestrian bridge made of FRP with an epoxy-coated wooden deck along the narrowest length of the pond. We also installed amenities including restrooms, benches, lighting, and picnic tables. We selected amenities based on longevity and durability due to low post-project maintenance funding.