A yellow backhoe loader parked on the dry-grass shoulder of a residential street with no curb or gutter, beside orange traffic cones, a shallow roadside ditch with a small driveway culvert, brick houses and parked cars.

Representative photo — not the project site.

Street & storm drain improvements

Southside Street and Drainage Improvements, Oroville

For the City of Oroville: right-of-way research and acquisition, field surveys, designs, calculations and PS&E for street and storm drain improvements in Southside.

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The project

The Southside Street and Drainage Improvements project is a City of Oroville effort to improve various streets in Southside, the southeast portion of the city, including storm drain improvements.

American Engineering provided the right-of-way research and acquisition, field surveys, designs, calculations and PS&E for the City of Oroville.

Southside, also called South Oroville, long sat outside the city limits. As the city "continued to grow around it," North State Public Radio reported in 2016, Southside was left "a little unincorporated island, without simple urban amenities like sidewalks, curbs, and gutters." Butte LAFCo approved the city's applications to annex the neighborhood and adjacent areas in 2015, adding about 2,400 residents.

Butte LAFCo's 2024 review of city services says public facilities in South Oroville, "built to County standards, are poorly maintained, aging, and in desperate need of repair." Roadways the city inherited through annexation are "significantly deteriorated, many without curbs, sidewalks or drainage improvements," and the review calls South Oroville "the geographical area in most need of roadway improvements."

Drainage is part of the same picture. A LAFCo staff report from April 2024 says city studies in 2021 found the area "lacked infrastructure for proper drainage." These records describe conditions in the neighborhood; they do not describe or date American Engineering's work.

Scope

Our scope

American Engineering's work for the City of Oroville, grouped by phase:

  1. Survey and research the streets

    • Field surveys
    • Right of way research

    The measured base for design that topographic surveying provides, plus the records that set each street's width.

  2. Design the improvements

    • Preparation of designs: preliminary engineering design for street and drainage improvements
    • Calculations

    For storm drains, calculations typically check that inlets and pipes can carry the runoff they collect. See stormwater calculations.

  3. Acquire right of way

    • Right of way acquisition

    Securing the land or easements that improvements need beyond the existing right of way.

  4. Prepare the PS&E

    • Plans, specifications and estimates (PS&E)

    The bid package: construction plans, technical specifications and a cost estimate. See improvement plans.

Technical highlights

How the work fits together

Two illustrative diagrams: how a street storm drain system collects runoff, and what street and drainage improvements typically change in cross-section.

From gutter to outfall

Street drainage upgrades typically replace ditches and scattered culverts with one connected system. Runoff from a tributary area (the land that drains to one point) flows along the gutter to a curb inlet. A short lateral pipe carries it to a manhole on the mainline, and the mainline runs to an outfall at an existing channel or storm drain, which needs room downstream for the flow.

A street storm drain system in plan view

Illustrative diagram — not to scale

Plan-view schematic of a storm drain system under two crossing streets Illustrative plan view of two crossing streets lined with houses, with north at the top. One block is shaded as a tributary area, and its runoff flows along the gutter to a curb inlet. Short laterals connect curb inlets to manholes on a mainline storm drain, which runs down one street to an outfall at an existing channel. Not a map of any real streets. Existing channel N Tributary area 1 2 3 4 5
  1. Tributary area: the land that drains to one inlet. Its size and surfaces set how much runoff arrives.
  2. Runoff flows along the gutter to a curb inlet (dark squares).
  3. Short laterals connect inlets to manholes (white circles) at junctions and bends.
  4. The mainline storm drain carries the collected flow under the street.
  5. The outfall releases flow to an existing channel or downstream system, which must have capacity for it.
Schematic of a generic street grid. Illustrative only, not project drawings or real streets.

What street and drainage improvements change

In older neighborhoods, streets often have no curb or gutter, and runoff finds its own way to shoulders and roadside ditches. Improvements typically add concrete curb and gutter, sidewalks, and curb inlets tied to a storm drain under the street. Where the new section is wider than the existing right of way, the agency acquires strips of land or easements, each typically defined by a legal description and plat, often with temporary construction easements to rebuild driveways.

A typical street section, before and after improvements

Illustrative diagram — not to scale

Before

Before: a narrow street with no curb, gutter or sidewalk Cross-section of a narrow, crowned asphalt street with dirt shoulders, a roadside ditch on one side and houses set back on both sides. A small round culvert sits in the bottom of the ditch where a driveway crosses it. Dashed lines mark the existing right of way close to the pavement edges. Runoff ponds in a shallow puddle on the shoulder at one pavement edge. Illustrative, not the project design. Existing ROW 1 2 3 4
  1. Narrow asphalt pavement with no curb, gutter or sidewalk.
  2. Runoff drains to dirt shoulders and roadside ditches; small culverts (white circle) carry it under driveways.
  3. With nowhere to go, runoff ponds in shallow low spots along the pavement edge.
  4. The existing right of way (ROW, dashed lines) sits close to the pavement.

After

After: curb, gutter, sidewalk and a storm drain, with added right of way The same street with concrete curb and gutter and sidewalks on both sides. A curb inlet under one gutter connects by a short lateral to a storm drain pipe under the centre of the street. Hatched strips beyond the existing right-of-way lines mark added right of way or easements, and a dashed outline beyond one of them marks a temporary construction easement over a driveway being rebuilt. Illustrative, not the project design. Existing ROW 1 2 3 4 5 6
  1. Concrete curb and gutter carry runoff along the street edge.
  2. A curb inlet (drain box) takes gutter flow into a short lateral.
  3. The storm drain under the street carries the flow to an outfall.
  4. A sidewalk behind the curb gives pedestrians their own route.
  5. Added right of way or easement (hatched), typical where the new section is wider than the old.
  6. Temporary construction easement (dashed outline) to rebuild a driveway where it meets the new sidewalk.
Typical street section in an older neighborhood. Illustrative only, not the project design: widths, materials and details vary by street.

Engineering considerations on neighborhood street and drainage projects

  • Narrow rights of way

    Streets built to older county standards often lack room for curb, gutter, sidewalk and drainage, so strips of land or easements may be needed from many small parcels.

  • Records research

    A street's true width and status come from old subdivision maps, deeds, road dedications and county records, which can be incomplete or conflict with one another.

  • Connecting piecemeal drainage

    Partial pipes, roadside ditches and driveway culverts must become one connected system, often on flat grades, with an outlet that has enough capacity downstream.

  • Utilities and monuments

    Established streets carry water, sewer, gas, power and communication lines that may call for exploratory digging or redesign, plus survey monuments that must be preserved.

Permits & funding

Regulatory and funding context

California law sets how a city acquires right of way and protects survey monuments, and state permits govern its stormwater. These rules apply to public street projects in general. They describe the legal setting for this kind of work, not the specific tasks American Engineering performed.

  • Gov. Code §§ 7267–7267.2

    Acquisition by negotiation first

    California's acquisition policy says a public entity should, "to the greatest extent practicable," "make every reasonable effort to acquire expeditiously real property by negotiation." Before negotiating, it has the property appraised (the owner may accompany the appraiser) and offers the full amount it believes is just compensation, with a written summary of the basis. The appraisal and offer rules do not apply to easements or rights of way for storm drains and other subsurface lines (§7267).

  • CCP §§ 1245.220, 1245.230

    Resolution of necessity

    A public entity may not start an eminent domain proceeding until its governing body adopts a resolution of necessity. The resolution describes the public use and the property, and declares the body's findings, including that the required offer was made or the owner could not be located.

  • Bus. & Prof. Code § 8771

    Survey monuments in the street

    Before a street is improved, reconstructed or resurfaced, monuments that control boundaries or survey control must be located and referenced by or under the direction of a licensed land surveyor, or a civil engineer authorized to practice land surveying. Monuments the work could destroy are reset or witnessed, with a corner record or record of survey filed with the county surveyor.

  • Order 2013-0001-DWQ

    The city's stormwater permit

    The City of Oroville received its NPDES stormwater permit in 2013 under the State Water Board's Phase II Small MS4 General Permit, Order 2013-0001-DWQ, which remains in effect. Post-construction stormwater management is one of the permit's required program components.

Requirements also depend on the site and the money. Construction that disturbs one acre or more, or is part of a larger common plan of development that does, needs Construction General Permit coverage (Order 2022-0057-DWQ), and when federal funds are involved, Caltrans procedures require compliance with the Uniform Act and a right-of-way certification before construction is authorized.

  • Land Surveying

    Topographic Surveying

    Field surveys of the existing streets for design.

  • Stormwater

    Stormwater Calculations

    Calculations behind the street and storm drain design.

  • Civil Engineering

    Improvement Plans

    Design and PS&E for the street and storm drain improvements.

See all past work

Sources

Public records and agency pages behind the project context above. The scope section describes American Engineering's own work.

  1. City of Oroville Municipal Service Review Update, adopted May 2, 2024 (PDF) (Butte LAFCo)
  2. Staff report, City of Oroville MSR Update, April 23, 2024 (PDF) (Butte LAFCo)
  3. A Year After A Move Decades In The Making, What Has Annexation Meant For Southside Oroville? (September 26, 2016) (North State Public Radio)
  4. Government Code §7267 (California Legislative Information)
  5. Government Code §7267.1 (California Legislative Information)
  6. Government Code §7267.2 (California Legislative Information)
  7. Code of Civil Procedure §1245.220 (California Legislative Information)
  8. Code of Civil Procedure §1245.230 (California Legislative Information)
  9. Business and Professions Code §8771 (California Legislative Information)
  10. Phase II Small MS4 Program (State Water Resources Control Board)
  11. Construction Stormwater Program (State Water Resources Control Board)
  12. Local Assistance Procedures Manual, Chapter 13: Right of Way (PDF) (Caltrans)

Last reviewed .

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Street & drainage improvements

Planning a similar project?

Send the streets or area involved, the improvements you have in mind, and any right-of-way or funding requirements. We'll confirm the surveys, calculations and plans you need.

Request a quote See more past work