Swan Point Cemetery, Providence, RI

Our firm has had the privilege of working at Swan Point Cemetery for many years, assisting with the design, permitting, and construction observation of numerous projects throughout the grounds.  Our latest project was the expansion of burial plots in the northwestern portion of the Cemetery, working as a team with the Cemetery, the Searle Design Group, LLC, and Grever and Ward, Inc.  The expansion area was well studied by the Cemetery, taking into account the retention of forested buffers from the surrounding neighborhood, characteristics of existing land cover and tree quality, distance from water resources, and historic plot layouts.  We assisted in pre-design and pre-application coordination with CRMC and RIDEM regarding project alternatives, stormwater management, nitrogen mitigation, and permitting paths.  Based on soils and groundwater characteristics, the use of porous pavement proved to be the most effective stormwater management tool for the new roadways.  Adequate nitrogen-removal treatment was provided, in recognition of nitrogen impairments listed for the adjacent Seekonk River, through appropriate drainage designs, including the use of a proprietary tree filter to mitigate for a slight nitrogen-removal shortfall.  Caputo and Wick Ltd.’s services included subsurface soils investigations, site survey and mapping, drainage and pollutant loading analyses, design of the site grading, drainage, utilities, and porous-pavement roadways, preparation of O&M and SESC Plans, environmental permitting, and limited construction observation.  The images above show the project two months after completion, and the images below show various stages of the porous pavement installation.