Urban Stormwater Training Program

May 17th, 2022

Urban stormwater drainage is a key element of every civil land development project, and when done well, it can enhance and support the project, neighborhood, community, and overall development. While addressing stormwater drainage is one of the more expensive aspects of civil design for land development, it can ultimately save money when appropriately designed and efficiently.

As part of Galloway’s ongoing efforts to continue as an industry leader in civil design and support the growth and development of our engineers, we established an in-house urban stormwater training program. Galloway’s training program incorporates stormwater training into team members’ project work. It is available for all levels of civil engineers and designers, whether they just started with Galloway or have over ten years of experience.

“The program is not intended to pigeonhole someone into only doing drainage design,” said Galloway Principal Brandon McCrary. “

McCrary believes this approach to the program is beneficial on many levels.

“The program broadens the opportunities we can bring to Galloway, our clients, and our team leaders across the company. Our engineers can learn and rely upon the experts we have to properly deliver the drainage part of a project,” he said.

“We are trying to develop well-rounded engineers at Galloway,” added Civil Engineering Project Manager Scott Brown.

Stormwater drainage design ranges from simple to complex depending on the variations of topography and regulations and the requirements unique to each site.

“Drainage is one of the most creative and important aspects of a civil land development project. It can be done a hundred different ways for every single project, and it is the one area where you can put your unique fingerprint on the design,” explains McCrary.

With drainage design being one of the most theoretical and creative aspects, the program’s goal is to build a foundation of knowledge that goes back to the roots of hydrology and understand the cause and effect of inputs and outputs and quality control and quality control assurance.

Another initiative of the program is to update Galloway’s drainage standards.

“When you pick up a Galloway drainage report, you will know it is a Galloway drainage report, and you can expect to see certain standards throughout it,” said Brown.

Strong technical knowledge has long been key to Galloway’s success across all disciplines, and the drainage program aligns with our desire to provide a solid technical growth path to our staff. Team members receive mentorship, training, and guidance from the urban stormwater drainage team: Brown, McCrary, and Civil Project Engineer Matthew Pepin. They can work on the projects that they have already been assigned as part of their workload, or the drainage team can incorporate them into a new project. They also work with Galloway’s water resources team because of the similarities between the two disciplines.

The program has been well received, and Pepin sees a bright future ahead for the impact on Galloway engineering.

“As more of our staff get involved, the program’s objectives will be realized said, Pepin. “Our staff will gain expanded knowledge, which will make our projects run smoother and result in everyone being lifted.”