Overland Park, Kan., is a typical 1...

Overland Park, Kan., is a typical 1950s-'60 midwestern suburb from its cul-de-sacs and 50-foot-tall oaks right down to its spread drainages that fail to confront city stormwater standards. Many of its neighborhoods were put togethered before city incorporation in 1962 when stormwater drainage was frequently unregulated. Natural drainages left to carry stormwater within the city were inadequate from the start, and flooding of highways and homes worsened as progress to maturity continued. For the city and homeowner unsightly and eroding banks and accidental drownings were further businesss

In 1993, the Overland Park Public Works Department tackled the spread drainage problem in one particularly flood-prone neighborhood just toward the south of Kansas City. There, an unimproved channel hurt through established backyards between double-cell, conglomerated box culverts under busy ways at both ends. Construction onward complete drainage improvements in the area was count uponed to carry flood flows without termination

The ...