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Block 32
The Vellore Woods Community (Block 32) is a new residential
development located in the City of Vaughan, Ontario. The Vellore
Woods Community will accommodate between 8,000-9,000 people at full
build-out. The development consists of single-family housing,
townhouses, commercial areas, parks and schools, all successfully
integrated with the newly created and distinctive Vellore Woods
Ravine Complex. The Vellore Woods Ravine Complex represents the largest entirely human-made stormwater management-valley system, and stream restoration project within an urban environment in Canada. The vision behind the creation of the Vellore Woods Ravine Complex was to provide a
multi-functional system that not only achieved all stormwater and flood risk reduction
engineering objectives, but served to recreate the headwater characteristics of the Upper
Don River watershed, improve local aquatic and terrestrial habitats, and facilitate
community passive recreation. |
Location and Development Plan of the Vellore Woods Community
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In 1994, Schaeffers Consulting Engineers was retained as Lead Consultant by the Vellore
Woods Developers Group to provide municipal engineering services for the design of the
new residential community, including the stormwater management design. Schaeffers Consulting
Engineers has been involved with this project from the conceptual Master Environmental
Servicing Planning (MESP) stage beginning in 1994, through the detailed design and
governmental review in 1998, and finally to tender, contract and site supervision work
in 1999/2000.
| Schaeffers' role as the Water Resources and Design Engineer was to establish an
innovative stormwater management strategy for Vellore Woods that assimilated required
engineering functions with ecological, and recreational objectives. |
Further, as Lead consultant of a multi-disciplinary consultant team our role was to
coordinate the integrated goals, and design approaches of each discipline, to maximize
the benefits of the proposed stormwater works. Thus, through the collaboration of the consultant team and the skillful implementation
of innovative design methods, the multi-functional Vellore Woods Ravine Complex was
created. The recommended stormwater strategy, called for rehabilitation works not only
within the site area, but also extending beyond the block limits. The Vellore Woods
Ravine Complex includes 1400 m of newly created valley built on either side of Highway
400, with |
Vellore Woods Ravine Complex – A successful blend of stormwater management, functional ecology and passive recreation
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| 1900 m of meandering natural low flow channel, two large wetpond facilities
within the site area, and the installation of two large culverts under Highway 400. |
In 2001, Schaeffers Consulting Engineers won the Canadian Consulting Engineer award for this project.
Vellore Woods Ravine Complex:
A successful blend of stormwater management,
functional ecology and passive recreation
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