Detention and retention pond construction that controls stormwater and meets site requirements.
Detention ponds across New Braunfels, from Gruene to Vintage Oaks to River Chase, carry more water off harder ground than they did when they were first built. The Comal and Guadalupe watershed gets heavy, fast-moving rain, and a lot of the basins serving apartment complexes, retail pads and HOA common areas here were sized years ago for a smaller footprint of rooftop and pavement. When the development around a pond grows, the pond still has to do the same job with more runoff hitting it faster.
The ground here does not help. Hill Country edge soils are thin and rocky in spots, which means slopes erode instead of absorbing flow, and riverfront lots near Gruene often sit on sandy fill that moves under a heavy storm pulse. We see slow drawdown after rain events, forebays packed with silt and gravel washed off upslope lots, bare or rutted side slopes, volunteer trees and brush rooted into embankments, and outlet structures choked with debris from the last few storms. Any one of these can turn a working basin into a standing-water problem or a compliance headache for whoever signs the inspection report.
Working with Corral Bros on this scope starts with a site walk, not a sales pitch. We look at the basin, the inlet and outlet structures, the slopes and the grading, and tell you plainly what is working and what is not. If the fix is excavation, regrading, a new outlet structure or riprap and slope stabilization, we price it against what the site plan actually requires, and we build or repair it to the plan or alongside your project engineer. You stay in the loop the whole time.
We're a local, family-built company that treats your New Braunfels property like our own, tidy crews, clear pricing, and detention ponds that holds up to Comal County conditions. Available as a one-time project or part of an ongoing plan.
A detention pond temporarily holds stormwater runoff and releases it slowly, so a developed site doesn't flood downstream neighbors or overwhelm storm drains. Most Central Texas commercial sites, subdivisions and larger developments are required to have detention as part of their drainage permit.
A detention pond drains down to empty between storms and is dry most of the time, while a retention pond holds a permanent pool of water. We build and maintain both, choosing the right one based on your site's soils, drainage requirements and available space.
We schedule a free, no-obligation site visit, usually within 48 hours of your call, and walk the pond with you or your maintenance contact. We check the inlet, outlet, forebay, slopes and overall capacity, take measurements where needed, and give you a written scope and price based on what the basin actually needs, not a generic package.
It depends on the site, but most basins here need a real look every few years at minimum, and sooner if the property has seen a heavy storm season or new construction upslope. Triggers we commonly see include visible silt buildup in the forebay, standing water that will not drain within a day or two after rain, and slopes that are bare, rutted or growing brush.
We plan the heavy excavation and grading work around your property's traffic patterns, not the other way around. For apartment communities, retail centers and HOA common areas, we coordinate timing with the property manager or board so parking, access roads and resident areas stay usable, and we fence or mark the active work zone for the duration of the job.
Rocky Hill Country edge soils near Vintage Oaks and River Chase do not hold a slope the way denser clay does, so bare embankments erode fast once vegetation is gone. Riverfront lots near Gruene often have sandy fill that shifts under heavy flow. Both conditions push us toward riprap, liners and proper slope stabilization rather than a quick regrade that will wash out again next storm season.
The biggest factors are how much excavation and material removal the basin needs, the condition of the existing inlet and outlet structures, and how much slope stabilization or riprap the embankments require. Access for equipment, the size of the basin, and whether erosion has undercut existing structures all factor in too. The site walk is where we pin down real numbers instead of guessing.
Free, no-pressure estimate from a local crew. Call (737) 404-9343 or request a quote online.
