We recently designed an instrument that we’re pretty excited about — a stormwater estimating worksheet. This simple tool will help designers working with the Silva Cell by allowing them to use the drainage area and storm event depth to quickly estimate the number of decks and frames necessary to reach their stormwater storage and treatment goals. The Silva Cell Stormwater Estimator is available in both Metric and English units.To use this Estimator, the designer simply enters the drainage area once to see how many Silva Cell frames and decks are required for 1, 2, and 3-layer systems over a range of standard stormwater event depths.

This estimator gets the design team well on their way their way to understanding Silva Cells for stormwater on their site. The finished design of the storm water distribution system dictates the final number of Silva Cell frames and decks required to store/treat project storm events. That design may include such things as void space in planting soil, inlet invert elevation, outlet invert elevation, distribution pipe size and distribution pipe elevation.

Once designers understand what is required for stormwater, it is important to balance requirements for stormwater management with appropriate soil rooting volume for the healthy growth and mature lifespan of proposed trees.

You can download the Estimators using the links above, or by going to the Installation & Design Guidelines section on the Silva Cell Resources page on the DeepRoot website.