MTO truck impoundment yard protected by the Stormceptor System

Installation of 1.524 m (5 foot) high riser section mounted with a fibreglass insert.

Over the past five years, truck safety has improved significantly in Ontario yet the volume of truck traffic continues to grow. Instrumental in the province’s safety program is the Commercial Vehicle Impoundment Program initiated in early 1998.

Ontario is the first jurisdiction in North America to introduce impoundment for seriously unsafe trucks, buses and trailers. The challenge to the Ministry of Transportation Ontario (MTO) is to locate impoundment yards in close proximity to major highways, and within a reasonable towing distance of the inspection location they serve. The yards must be sites that can be easily accessed and upgraded to accommodate large vehicles and cargos that may cause environmental damage, if not contained.

Not only are unsafe vehicles impounded, but any leaks from such transports must be contained on site as well. This is where the Stormceptor oil/sediment removal systems are now playing a vital role in preventing pollutants from entering storm sewers and ultimately rivers and lakes.

The new impoundment yard at the Northwest corner of Kennedy Road and Highway 401 in Toronto is located on the same site as an existing MTO inspection station and works yard. MTO has an agreement with the Ministry of the Environment (MOE) through a Certificate of Approval noting that it can use the Stormceptor system in its patrol yards. MTO environmental planners and design engineers make every effort to ensure that oil and other contaminants in urban runoff are significantly reduced.

Vehicles detained at the Kennedy Road yard are parked on a concrete pad within a fenced facility. Runoff from the pad and service roads is conveyed to a single Stormceptor unit designed to accommodate a 0.535 ha drainage area characterized by 88.8% imperviousness for a total contributing impervious area of 0.475 ha.

Consulting engineers at Philips Engineering Ltd. in Burlington sized the required Stormceptor unit based on the current MOE Sizing Guideline of 15 m³/impervious ha (for Level 1 treatment, or approximately 80% suspended solids removal). They calculated that the unit would require a holding capacity of 7.3 m³. Stormceptor model STC 1500, or equivalent, was recommended which has a 7,525 litre total holding capacity, and a bypass flow rate of 18 L/s. Philips engineers are experienced in designing stormwater quality facilities with many oil/sediment removal systems. Although impartial toward using any commercially available brand of product, Philips has used the Stormceptor system on complex sites with very little room for installing oil/sediment removal structures. The system easily meets MOE guidelines for sizing. Hanson Pipe & Products Canada, using the Expert System Sizing program, simulated an 80% annual total suspended solids removal efficiency for the specified impervious drainage area.

Dufferin Construction was awarded the contract to upgrade the site to accommodate the vehicle impoundment yard, which included installation of the unit and construction of the associated 300 mm diameter storm sewer. On November 7, 2002, the contractor took delivery of the unit from the Cambridge plant of Hanson Pipe & Products Canada, Inc. The shipment Not only are unsafe vehicles impounded, but any leaks from such transports must be contained on site. consisted of six standard 1800 mm (72 inch) diameter precast concrete products including a 0.305 m high base slab, a 0.610 m (2 foot) riser, 1.219 m (4 foot) high riser, 1.524 m (5 foot) high riser section mounted with a fibreglass insert, 0.914 m (3 foot) high riser, and a 0.305 m flat cap. When placed in position, the unit stood 4.87 m high. Once excavation had been completed in late 2002, the unit was completely assembled and ready for backfilling and connections to the storm sewer

Toronto’s surface water quality is now offered further protection from potential spills or leaks from a facility designed to make our highways safer.

See our home page on how to order your subscription. We regret we can only accept orders from Canada and the United States.