Stormwater detention vaults and methods of assembling stormwater detention vaults

Abstract

Stormwater detention vaults and methods of assembling stormwater detention vaults. The stormwater detention vaults include a cast-in-place concrete floor, a plurality of precast concrete wall panels, and a plurality of prestressed concrete top panels. The cast-in-place concrete floor defines an interior floor region and a keyway recess that surrounds the interior floor region. Each precast concrete wall panel includes a wall edge that defines a lower panel surface and an upper panel surface. The lower panel surface of at least a subset of the plurality of precast concrete wall panels is positioned within the keyway recess to define a perimeter wall of the stormwater detention vault. Each prestressed concrete top panel spans at least two precast concrete wall panels such that the plurality of prestressed concrete top panels defines an at least substantially continuous top of the stormwater detention vault.

1 . A stormwater detention vault, comprising:
 a cast-in-place concrete floor that defines:   (i) an interior floor region of the stormwater detention vault; and   (ii) a keyway recess that surrounds the interior floor region;   a plurality of precast concrete wall panels, wherein each precast concrete wall panel of the plurality of precast concrete wall panels includes a wall edge that defines a lower panel surface and an upper panel surface, wherein the lower panel surface of at least a subset of the plurality of precast concrete wall panels is positioned within the keyway recess such that the plurality of precast concrete wall panels at least partially defines a perimeter wall of the stormwater detention vault, wherein the perimeter wall extends from the cast-in-place concrete floor and surrounds the interior floor region; and   a plurality of prestressed concrete top panels, wherein each prestressed concrete top panel of the plurality of prestressed concrete top panels spans at least two precast concrete wall panels of the plurality of precast concrete wall panels such that the plurality of prestressed concrete top panels defines an at least substantially continuous top of the stormwater detention vault, wherein the at least substantially continuous top covers the interior floor region.   
     
     
         2 . The stormwater detention vault of  claim 1 , wherein the wall edge of each precast concrete wall panel of the plurality of precast concrete wall panels defines a gasket recess and includes a gasket, which extends within the gasket recess and around at least four sides of each precast concrete wall panel. 
     
     
         3 . The stormwater detention vault of  claim 2 , wherein, within the perimeter wall, the gasket of each precast concrete wall panel is compressed against the gasket of an adjacent precast concrete wall panel. 
     
     
         4 . The stormwater detention vault of  claim 2 , wherein the gasket includes a hydrophilic inlay material, which is configured to swell upon contact with water. The stormwater detention vault of  claim 2 , wherein the gasket of a given precast concrete wall panel in an adjacent pair of precast concrete wall panels and the gasket of an adjacent precast concrete wall panel in the adjacent pair of precast concrete wall panels span a wall-to-wall gap between the adjacent pair of precast concrete wall panels. 
     
     
         6 . The stormwater detention vault of  claim 2 , wherein each precast concrete wall panel defines an outward-facing side and an inward-facing side, wherein a wall thickness of each precast concrete wall panel is defined between the outward-facing side and the inward-facing side, and further wherein the gasket recess is spaced apart from a wall edge center of the wall edge, which is equidistant between the outward-facing side and the inward-facing side. 
     
     
         7 . The stormwater detention vault of  claim 1 , wherein each precast concrete wall panel of the plurality of precast concrete wall panels defines a butt seal with at least one adjacent wall panel. 
     
     
         8 . The stormwater detention vault of  claim 1 , wherein the perimeter wall includes a lubricant, which is positioned within a contact region between each precast concrete wall panel of the plurality of precast concrete wall panels and the keyway recess. 
     
     
         9 . The stormwater detention vault of  claim 1 , wherein the cast-in-place concrete floor is at least one of:
 (i) a monolithic cast-in-place concrete floor;   (ii) a unitary cast-in-place concrete floor; and   (iii) a single-piece cast-in-place concrete floor.   
     
     
         10 . The stormwater detention vault of  claim 1 , wherein the interior floor region slopes downward to a central elongate channel. 
     
     
         11 . The stormwater detention vault of  claim 1 , wherein the cast-in-place concrete floor includes a footing, which is positioned vertically below the keyway recess, wherein the footing defines an average footing thickness, wherein the interior floor region defines an average interior floor region thickness, and further wherein the footing thickness is a threshold multiple of at least 1.5 times the interior floor region thickness. 
     
     
         12 . The stormwater detention vault of  claim 1 , wherein the cast-in-place concrete floor defines a floor length of at least 10 meters (m) and at most 200 m. 
     
     
         13 . The stormwater detention vault of  claim 1 , wherein the cast-in-place concrete floor defines a floor width of at least 5 m and at most 15 m. 
     
     
         14 . The stormwater detention vault of  claim 1 , wherein the keyway recess defines a lower recess surface, and further wherein at least one of:
 (i) a difference between a maximum elevation of the lower recess surface and a minimum elevation of the lower recess surface is at most 5 millimeters (mm); and   (ii) the lower recess surface has a root mean squared (RMS) lower recess surface roughness of at most 2 mm.   
     
     
         15 . The stormwater detention vault of  claim 14 , wherein the cast-in-place concrete floor includes a self-leveling compound that defines the lower recess surface. 
     
     
         16 . The stormwater detention vault of  claim 14 , wherein the keyway recess defines an interior recess taper, which tapers from the interior floor region to the lower recess surface, and further wherein the keyway recess defines an exterior recess taper, which tapers from an external periphery of the cast-in-place concrete floor to the lower recess surface. 
     
     
         17 . The stormwater detention vault of  claim 1 , wherein each precast concrete wall panel of the plurality of precast concrete wall panels defines a wall height of at least 1 m and at most 5 m. 
     
     
         18 . The stormwater detention vault of  claim 1 , wherein each precast concrete wall panel of the plurality of precast concrete wall panels defines a wall width of at least 2 m and at most 8 m. 
     
     
         19 . The stormwater detention vault of  claim 1 , wherein each adjacent pair of precast concrete wall panels of the plurality of precast concrete wall panels defines a corresponding wall-to-wall gap of at least 1 mm and at most 12 mm. 
     
     
         20 . The stormwater detention vault of  claim 1 , wherein each precast concrete wall panel of the plurality of precast concrete wall panels includes an attachment structure configured to attach each precast concrete wall panel to an adjacent precast concrete wall panel of the plurality of precast concrete wall panels, wherein the attachment structure includes:
 (i) an access recess, which is spaced apart from the wall edge of each precast concrete wall panel;   (ii) a fastener hole, which extends from the access recess to the wall edge; and   (iii) a fastener, which extends from the access recess, through the fastener hole, through an adjacent fastener hole of the adjacent precast concrete wall panel, and to an adjacent access recess of the adjacent precast concrete wall panel.   
     
     
         21 . The stormwater detention vault of  claim 20 , wherein the fastener hole is positioned on a wall edge center of the wall edge. 
     
     
         22 . The stormwater detention vault of  claim 1 , wherein the stormwater detention vault further includes a closure seal between the perimeter wall and the at least substantially continuous top, wherein the stormwater detention vault includes a plurality of metallic wall extensions, which vertically extends from a top surface of the perimeter wall, and a plurality of metallic top panel extensions, which horizontally extends from a side surface of the at least substantially continuous top, and further wherein the closure seal encapsulates the plurality of metallic wall extensions and the plurality of metallic top panel extensions. 
     
     
         23 . A method of assembling a stormwater detention vault, the method comprising:
 pouring a cast-in-place concrete floor such that the cast-in-place concrete floor defines:   (i) an interior floor region of the stormwater detention vault; and   (ii) a keyway recess that surrounds the interior floor region;   positioning a plurality of precast concrete wall panels within the keyway recess, wherein each precast concrete wall panel of the plurality of precast concrete wall panels includes a wall edge that defines a lower panel surface and an upper panel surface, wherein the positioning the plurality of precast concrete wall panels includes positioning such that the lower panel surface of at least a subset of the plurality of precast concrete wall panels is positioned within the keyway recess such that the plurality of precast concrete wall panels at least partially defines a perimeter wall of the stormwater detention vault, and further wherein the perimeter wall extends from the cast-in-place concrete floor and surrounds the interior floor region; and   positioning a plurality of prestressed concrete top panels on an upper edge of the perimeter wall such that each prestressed concrete top panel of the plurality of prestressed concrete top panels spans at least two precast concrete wall panels of the plurality of precast concrete wall panels and also such that the plurality of prestressed concrete top panels defines an at least substantially continuous top of the stormwater detention vault, wherein the at least substantially continuous top covers the interior floor region.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the positioning the plurality of precast concrete wall panels includes positioning an adjacent pair of precast concrete wall panels within the keyway recess and subsequently moving a first precast concrete wall panel of the adjacent pair toward a second precast concrete wall panel of the adjacent pair of precast concrete wall panels. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the first precast concrete wall panel includes a first wall edge that defines a first gasket recess and also includes a first gasket, which extends within the first gasket recess, wherein the second precast concrete wall panel includes a second wall edge that defines a second gasket recess and also includes a second gasket, which extends within the first gasket recess, and further wherein the moving includes compressing the first gasket against the second gasket.