Services

Stormwater

• Soil infiltration testing for low impact development (LID) stormwater BMPs (permeable pavement, bioretention facilities, rain gardens)

• Soil infiltration evaluations for professionally engineered stormwater designs (short plats and long plats, residential projects, commercial and mixed-use development)

• Help with the City of Bellingham's Onsite Stormwater BMP Guidance for projects less than 5,000 square feet of new or replaced surfaces

• Soil testing and prescriptive stormwater design services for projects subject to Minimum Requirement #5 - Onsite Stormwater Management (infiltration trenches and drywells, dispersion trenches and splash blocks, rain gardens, perforated stub-out connections, permeable pavement/pavers and sheet flow/concentrated flow dispersion)

• Soils reports for BMP T5.10A Downspout Full Infiltration Systems and BMP T5.15 Permeable Pavements/Pavers

• Determination of saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) and design infiltration rates (pilot infiltration testing and grain size analysis method)

• Soils reports and stormwater design services for the Sudden Valley Community Association Appendix D: Homeowner Stormwater Workbook (Including Stormwater Facility Location Site Plans and Tree Canopy Retention Plans)

• Soil infiltration evaluations and prescriptive stormwater design services for projects in the Lake Whatcom, Lake Samish, Lake Padden, Birch Bay and Drayton Harbor watersheds

• Slope setback evaluations for infiltration and dispersion stormwater systems

• Help with (non-engineered) HDPE stormwater outfall systems for residential projects on smaller slopes

• Residential stormwater/sump pump system design recommendations

• Wet season groundwater monitoring and seasonal high groundwater estimates

• Cation exchange capacity (CEC) and organic content testing  

Geologic Hazards

• Full critical area reports for geologically hazardous areas (erosion, landslide and coal mine hazards) in the City of Bellingham per BMC 16.55.410, 16.55.420, 16.55.430, 16.55.440 and 16.55.450

• Limited geohazard reports for projects that qualify for a minor critical area permit in the City of Bellingham per BMC 16.55.080 and 16.55.205 

• Tsunami hazard reports for Whatcom County (Birch Bay, Sandy Point, Blaine)  

• Risk assessments for geohazards (landslide, coastal erosion, alluvial fan, volcanic, seismic and river hazards)

• Shoreline and coastal erosion rate estimates

• Slope stability assessments

• Safe building setback recommendations

• Stabilization techniques for unstable slopes

• Vegetation management on steep slopes

Additional Services

• Geotechnical and geohazard evaluations for property purchase feasibility 

• Fill and peat delineation

• Depth to bedrock investigations for planning a foundation excavation

• Evaluations for foundation settlement and drainage issues 

• USDA soil textural classification for septic design

• Code compliance violations

• Help with permitting and project coordination

• Mapping and drafting services using AutoCAD

• Referrals to qualified local professionals and contractors