Detention and retention pond construction that controls stormwater and meets site requirements.
Detention ponds across San Antonio do a job most people never think about until it stops working: holding back stormwater long enough that it does not overwhelm the storm drain system downstream. Bexar County's mix of long dry spells and sudden heavy rain puts real demand on these basins, and a pond built to spec ten or twenty years ago in Alamo Heights does not behave the same way today as the ground around it has settled, silted, or grown over.
What shows up in the field is pretty consistent. Caliche soils and limestone shelves common from Shavano Park to Stone Oak mean a basin that was graded without accounting for that hard layer often drains slower than the plan called for, leaving standing water days after a storm. We find silted-in forebays at older properties, bare and eroding slopes at newer ones still establishing cover, and more than a few embankments with volunteer trees whose roots are working against the structure instead of holding it together. Blocked or undersized outlet structures are common wherever maintenance lapsed for a season or two.
Working with Corral Bros on a pond like this starts with a straightforward site walk, not a sales pitch. We tell you what we see in the basin, what it would take to bring it back to spec or to the engineer's plan, and what that work actually involves, whether that is excavation and regrading, new riprap and liners, or rebuilding an outfall structure. You get a contractor who has done this work on sprawling Bexar County properties, from historic in-town lots to new Stone Oak builds, and who can schedule around tenants, residents, and a board's timeline.
We're a local, family-built company that treats your San Antonio property like our own, tidy crews, clear pricing, and detention ponds that holds up to Bexar 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 walk the basin with whoever manages the property, whether that is a board member, an on-site manager or a contractor closing out a job. We look at the inlet, outlet, forebay and side slopes, note what the site plan calls for, and give a free on-site estimate, usually scheduled within 48 hours. No obligation to move forward after that walk.
It depends on age and rainfall, but most basins on caliche or limestone sites need attention every few years at minimum, sooner if slopes are bare or the forebay is silting in fast. Triggers we see most: standing water that will not drain down, erosion gullies on the embankment, or an association being told by its engineer that capacity has dropped.
Yes. Most of our commercial pond work happens at apartment communities, retail centers and HOA common areas where people are living or shopping on site every day. We stage equipment to keep drive aisles and parking open, coordinate timing with the property manager, and fence or mark the work area so residents and shoppers are not walking through active excavation.
Caliche and limestone shelves sit close to the surface across much of Bexar County, so excavation and grading move slower and need the right approach to get stable side slopes instead of a basin that sheers off after the first hard rain. Our rainfall pattern of long dry stretches followed by heavy storms also means outlet structures and spillways have to handle a sudden volume, not a steady trickle.
The biggest factors are how much excavation and grading the basin needs, whether we are stabilizing slopes with riprap and liners or just reshaping, and how much silt has to come out of the forebay. Access matters too: a Stone Oak site with room to maneuver equipment costs less to work than a tight in-town Alamo Heights lot. We price each job after the site walk, not off a phone call.
Free, no-pressure estimate from a local crew. Call (737) 404-9343 or request a quote online.
