CASE STUDY 27 — Lakeside Dr. Building Expansion Harris County Floodplain Expansion | Civil Engineering & Underground Detention
Complete Civil Engineering Design & Underground Detention
Industrial & Warehouse
Channelview · Harris County · Texas
PROJECT OVERVIEW
JRH Engineering provided complete civil engineering design to permit a building expansion for an existing small industrial site in the Harris County floodplain in Channelview, Texas. The site had no space for above-ground detention — a constraint that would have blocked conventional floodplain permitting. JRH designed an underground detention system that kept the surface fully operational and delivered a clean Harris County Flood Control District permit without sacrificing any site usability.
AT A GLANCE
Site Civil & Drainage Design
● Underground detention system designed to provide required floodplain storage volume without consuming any surface area
● System sized to meet HCFCD detention requirements for the additional impervious area from the building expansion
● Surface of the site preserved entirely for industrial operations — no above-ground pond, no fencing around a water feature, no lost operational area
Permitting & Agency Coordination
● Harris County Flood Control District permit secured through underground detention documentation
● Underground system design and capacity calculations submitted to HCFCD with complete engineering documentation
● Existing industrial operations not interrupted during the permitting process
THE CHALLENGE
Space-constrained industrial sites in the Harris County floodplain face a specific problem: HCFCD requires detention for any new impervious area, but the site is too small or too operationally dense to accommodate a surface pond. The standard answer — build a pond — was not possible here.
JRH's Approach
Underground detention replaces the surface pond with a subsurface storage system — typically corrugated metal pipe, concrete vaults, or proprietary modular chambers — that provides the required storage volume below grade while the surface remains fully usable. JRH sized and designed the underground system to satisfy HCFCD's detention requirements, produced the engineering documentation required for the permit, and submitted a complete package.
The Result
A Harris County Flood Control District permit for a floodplain building expansion — with zero surface area consumed by detention infrastructure.
RESULTS
● Zero surface area consumed by detention — underground system preserved full site operability
● HCFCD floodplain permit issued for building expansion on a space-constrained industrial site
● Existing operations uninterrupted throughout the permitting process