Sources: Environmental Containment Corp., Vancouver, Wash.; CP staff
After an initial collaboration, Washington State’s National Precast, Vancouver, and Superior Concrete, Lake Stevens, have joined forces as Environmental Containment Corp. to serve the fast-growing stormwater containment market with cast-in-place detention vaults, plus precast ponds or vaults.
The producer’s comprehensive, modular design for runoff management, Hybrid Vault, is now available throughout the Northwest. While typical stormwater containment installations involve multiple companies and contractors for engineering, design, production, transport and construction or installation, ECC offers a complete, permit-ready set of sealed structural drawings and calculations; production and fabrication; plus, field services.
“Hybrid Vault provided us with a more cost-effective solution than having to piece together the design, engineering, product sourcing and installation of the different components of our stormwater containment system,” says Ram Construction General Contractors Project Manager Josh Erholm. “Because we didn’t have to coordinate across different vendors and service providers, ECC helped our project stay on schedule and budget.”
ECC deploys the same robust, water-tight technology used in segmental precast tunnel liners versus pipes requiring more soil backfill and subject to degradation over time. Hybrid Vault systems are rated to a higher, heavier traffic standard than typical structures, resulting in a more structurally sound containment system. Structural precast top slabs are designed to meet loading requirements before they leave the production facility and don’t rely on backfill or installation measures to achieve their intended design strength.
The Hybrid Vault is configured to maximize storage space and typically requires less than 30 percent of the footprint of stormwater containment alternatives. Its efficient shape and depth mean less excavation and land intrusion. ECC fabricates components and structures in accordance with National Precast Concrete Association and Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute guidelines. Through SMaRT Certification, its precast products have been deemed to be the most environmentally-sound buried infrastructure product on the market—augmenting customers’ sustainability goals.
“ECC is the only full-service stormwater containment solution in the Pacific Northwest,” says CEO Ron Sparks, who served as 2020-2021 NPCA Chair. “Because we are responsible for every step of the project, we can truly guarantee the functionality as intended. Our customers have one vendor to deal with, so it both simplifies the process and enables us to significantly reduce the cost while providing our customers with robust, environmentally sound solutions for stormwater management.”