Norman Main Street Over Brookhaven Creek

Garver has experience designing green infrastructure through stream restoration techniques to address stormwater quality. Prior to 2016, the Brookhaven Creek channel downstream of West Main Street in Norman, Oklahoma experienced significant erosion and sediment transfer problems. Garver was selected to provide a solution to improve Brookhaven Creek.  

This tributary of the South Canadian River is an impaired waterbody due to the absence of benthic macroinvertebrates, according to the Oklahoma Division of Environmental Quality (ODEQ) 303(d) list of impaired waterbodies. These larval creatures are a natural indication of a healthy waterbody, and the absence of them is an indication that pollutants have compromised the stream health. In 2017, Garver’s design for stream rehabilitation was constructed and the City of Norman received a Green Infrastructure Grant from the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (OWRB) to implement the solutions Garver designed. 

The improvements to the creek included the use of mechanically stabilized earth walls where right-of-way is limited. In addition, the project incorporated the use of natural log features used to serve as grade control and erosion control in the bottom of the repaired channel. The project also removed numerous homes from the 100-year floodplain. A Section 404 permit was obtained for the improvements in the creek. 

The drainage improvements at Main Street consisted of replacing the corrugated metal pipes culvert with a triple barrel 16-foot wide by eight-foot tall reinforced concrete box and improving the downstream drainage channel to increase the conveyance capacity of Brookhaven Creek from Main Street to Willow Grove Drive.