Oleander on Broadway — 350-Unit Mixed-Use Housing Civil Engineering in Galveston, TX
Galveston · Galveston County · Texas
Residential & Multifamily Development
Civil engineering for a federally funded island housing development
JRH Engineering delivered complete civil engineering design for the Oleander on Broadway — a 9.8-acre, 350-unit mixed-use housing development in Galveston, Texas, combining federal and private funding. The project had no storm sewer outfall available, requiring a drainage solution that worked within Galveston coastal soil conditions. JRH designed a bioswale detention system that leveraged the island naturally sandy, highly permeable soil to absorb stormwater on-site — eliminating the need to engineer a remote outfall connection entirely.
AT A GLANCE
Site civil design
Full civil design for 9.8-acre mixed-use development including building pad layout, public road design, grading, and drainage
Two public roads designed through the project — required by the City of Galveston as part of the development approval
Bioswale detention system designed to utilize Galveston sandy coastal soil — stormwater absorbed on-site rather than piped to a remote outfall
Site layout accommodated 350 units across a mix of residential and commercial uses
Utility infrastructure
Water and sanitary tied into the City of Galveston municipal system
Utility connections coordinated concurrently with public road design and the drainage system
Stormwater and drainage
No storm sewer outfall available — a bioswale system was designed as the drainage solution
Galveston naturally sandy, highly permeable soil used as the drainage asset — stormwater infiltrates through bioswale channels without requiring a piped outfall
Remote outfall connection eliminated entirely — significant cost and engineering complexity avoided
Bioswale design met City of Galveston drainage requirements within the site footprint
Permitting and agency coordination
City of Galveston permitting for a federally funded, 350-unit mixed-use development — complex multi-discipline coordination managed by JRH
Federal funding compliance requirements maintained throughout the permitting process
Two public roads designed and approved as part of the development agreement
The Challenge — a drainage problem with no obvious solution
A 9.8-acre development with 350 units in Galveston with no storm sewer outfall is a drainage engineering problem with no obvious solution. Piping stormwater to a remote outfall on a coastal island is expensive, logistically complex, and dependent on finding a viable outfall route — which did not exist here. The project was also federally funded, adding compliance requirements that do not exist on private projects.
JRH’s Approach — designing around what the island geology already offered
Sandy coastal soil is highly permeable — stormwater that would pond on a clay soil site absorbs quickly on Galveston Island. A bioswale detention system channeled stormwater into vegetated swales where it could infiltrate on-site, meeting drainage requirements without a single pipe going to an outfall that did not exist. The result was a drainage solution derived from the site natural conditions rather than imposed over them.
The Results
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Remote outfall connection eliminated — a bioswale system leveraged Galveston sandy soil for on-site stormwater infiltration
$111,000,000 construction value delivered with WBE-certified project management
Two public roads designed and approved as part of the City of Galveston development agreement
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Frequently Asked Questions
What was the main engineering challenge on the Oleander on Broadway development?
The 9.8-acre, 350-unit federally and privately funded mixed-use development had no storm sewer outfall available, and piping stormwater to a remote outfall on a coastal island was not a practical option.
How did JRH Engineering solve the drainage challenge at Oleander on Broadway?
JRH designed a bioswale detention system that used Galveston's naturally sandy, highly permeable coastal soil to absorb stormwater on-site, eliminating the need for a remote piped outfall connection entirely.
What were the results of the Oleander on Broadway project?
JRH eliminated the need for a remote outfall connection, delivered $111,000,000 in construction value under WBE-certified project management, and designed two public roads as part of the City of Galveston development agreement.