Trout Brook Nature Sanctuary and Regional Trail

The Capitol Region Watershed District (CRWD) and the City of St. Paul selected the team of HR Green and Inter-Fluve to conduct a feasibility study, develop concept plans and final design, complete three construction bid packages and construction oversight for the Trout Brook Nature Sanctuary and Regional Trail. This is the first major restoration project that is part of a larger effort by the CRWD to raise awareness of water resources in the City of St. Paul. The project’s key design feature is the re-creation of 3000 feet of Trout Brook stream after decades of confinement within a storm sewer.

The study included assessing water sources, their quantity, and quality; identifying workable stream and pipe alignments across and through the underground infrastructure of an urban environment; addressing the existence of contaminated soils on the site; assessing ecological potential of the reconstructed stream and associated ponds and wetlands; and designing a channel and floodplain that will function under the short-term hydrologic regime as well as proposed long-term extension of the daylighted stream. The final design includes a Project Memorandum, the design of the federally funded Trout Brook Regional Trail segment within the Sanctuary, as well as the design of over one mile of other trails, overlooks, pedestrian bridges, and stream access points.

The project includes brownfields mitigation, public art, architectural restroom facility design, bridge design, stormwater treatment within iron-enhanced sand filter ponds, stormwater wetlands, upland habitat restoration, and over one mile of storm sewer design to obtain source water. Input from multiple government agencies and stakeholders were incorporated at all stages of the analysis.

HR Green provided construction management and inspection throughout the construction of this project. The once heavily urbanized area is now a nature preserve, restoring the neighborhood’s connection to the natural environment.