Bonita Springs, Florida – Lee County Parks & Recreation selected AIM to perform Surveying and Civil/Site Engineering services for 4.9 acres of improvements within the existing 9.3 acre Lover’s Key State Park. The improvements included the installation of a paved asphalt driveway, turn lane on CR 865, asphalt paved parking lots, restroom facilities, volleyball court, designated shelters, children’s playground, and cooking grills.

In designing the improvements to the existing facilities, the master drainage plan was designed to provide water quality for the newly added impervious areas, and to show a net benefit for the existing site by providing additional water quality storage. These goals were accomplished through the use of a dry detention area along the southeast side of the recreational park. Because runoff is conveyed via sheet flow across the natural slope of the property, it became the most feasible and economical option to collect the runoff utilizing the natural patterns.

Runoff is discharged into Estero Bay through the use of a proposed modified Type C inlet as a control structure. Estero Bay is classified as an Outstanding Florida Water; therefore a 50% increase in storage capacity within the water management system was required. The end result of this project was an expanded and improved recreational facility where the public can enjoy the amenities for which Southwest Florida is known.

AIM Engineering & Surveying, Inc. was selected by the City of Cape Coral Public Works Department to perform the evaluation, design, and construction phase services for the replacement of Weir #19, located within the Cape Coral Canal System. The first phase of this project to be completed was the Investigation & Basin Evaluation required to define the hydraulic parameters for the new water control structure.

Irrigation water within the basin controlled by Weir #19 is mostly provided from wells and from direct withdrawals from the canal system. Canal withdrawals currently comprise more than 50 percent of the overall irrigation supply. Dry season irrigation has typically resulted in low canal and groundwater levels. The goal of this project is to raise the control elevation of Weir #19 to increase basin storage and provide increased canal water levels entering the dry season.

The Investigation & Basin Evaluation phase of the project included several tasks. Field Survey was performed at the proposed structure location, and to identify possible areas of special concern (i.e. low areas susceptible to flooding). The plans for the existing Weir #19 structure were evaluated to define existing conditions and the potential to modify the existing structure as an alternative to constructing a new replacement structure.

Our water resources group modified an existing master hydraulic model that was previously developed for the Cape Coral area to focus on the Weir #19 structure, and evaluate the extent that the upstream water level could be raised to create more basin storage. System details were added in the local basin and simulations were run with varying structure elevations. Based on the resulting peak stages and flows during simulated design storm events, recommendations for the new replacement structure were provided to the Client, and the Design phase is currently underway.