Project

Developed in 2014 as the largest industrial rail park in the San Antonio area, the Mission Rail Park complex encompasses over 1,000 acres adjacent to the San Antonio River. As facilities at the rail park developed, ponds were constructed to capture and slow stormwater flowing from the site, across the floodplain, and entering the San Antonio River. Stormwater, concentrated by a pond’s outfall structure, caused erosion along the riverbank and floodplain, washing trees and sediment into the San Antonio River.

EPR was selected to develop a solution that would meet both the site owner’s real property goals and the San Antonio River Authority’s (SARA) riverine and ecological goals. EPR conducted hydrologic and hydraulic modeling using HEC-HMS and HEC-RAS, and LIDAR data, which allowed engineers to develop a long-term solution and an approved FEMA LOMR.

EPR’s efforts resulted in a low cost, low maintenance outfall channel for the Mission Rail Park, and met SARA’s goals of providing ecological uplift and preventing excess sediment from entering the San Antonio River.