Articles Tagged: Stormwater Inspection

Culverts are often out of sight and, as a result, out of mind, until they fail. When they do fail, the consequences can range from nuisance flooding to full roadway washouts. One of the most overlooked factors in culvert performance is vegetation management. Too little control can obstruct flow and …

Municipal stormwater systems tend to operate quietly in the background, doing their job year after year with little attention. Pipes carry flows, culverts pass streams beneath roads, catch basins collect runoff, and ditches guide water away from infrastructure. Because these systems are largely out …

Managing outfalls as assets rather than afterthoughts represents a fundamental shift in how municipalities approach stormwater infrastructure. For many communities, outfalls are only addressed when something goes wrong, such as erosion, structural failure, or a visible discharge issue. By that point…

Training field crews to support asset management goals is one of the most overlooked, yet most impactful, steps a municipality can take when trying to build a reliable stormwater or roadway asset program. You can invest in the best software, develop detailed capital improvement plans, and establish …

Stormwater outfalls are the final point where a drainage system releases water into a receiving body such as a stream, river, wetland, or lake. Because they sit at the end of the system, they are often overlooked until a visible failure occurs. When an outfall collapses or erodes, the consequences c…

Dry weather outfall screening is one of the most effective and defensible tools available to municipal stormwater programs for identifying illicit discharges. Under MS4 permit requirements associated with the Clean Water Act and the NPDES stormwater program, municipalities are required to implement …

A well managed stormwater program depends on accurate and complete information about every outfall in a community. Outfalls are the final discharge points where stormwater leaves the municipal system and enters a stream, lake, wetland, or other receiving water. Because these locations represent the …

Opening and entering drainage structures requires a practiced, methodical approach that protects workers from unseen dangers and ensures that every step is guided by awareness, communication, and control. These environments can hold toxic gases, low oxygen levels, and unexpected structural weaknesse…

Field inspections of catch basins, manholes, culverts, and outfalls form the foundation of responsible stormwater management. These routine checks give municipalities an ongoing view of the condition of their drainage network and allow crews to identify issues long before they become flooding hazard…

Habitat disruption around drainage structures is often subtle at first, and many of the earliest signs tend to appear during ordinary field work rather than during formal environmental surveys. Because highway departments and public works crews encounter these locations regularly, they are in the be…

*The screenshots used in this article are from Roadwurx, an asset management software created for road maintenance departments. Managing a town’s stormwater system can quickly become overwhelming when maintenance and inspection records are scattered across clipboards, spreadsheets, or dusty fi…

Culverts are among the most overlooked pieces of municipal infrastructure, yet they play a critical role in keeping roads passable and communities safe from flooding. When a culvert fails, the results can be immediate and costly: road washouts, property damage, and emergency closures. That is why re…