Woods was initially approached by a representative of the Bluebird/AHLAL joint venture to carry out a peer review for a stormwater upgrade design that had been prepared for the town of Apia. Located on the north coast of Upolu, Apia is the main urban and commercial centre for Samoa. Flooding, especially flash floods, are a serious and frequent problem in Samoa and in particular Apia where steep catchments with rapid flood onsets are subject to frequent heavy rainfall events.

To address the issue of frequent flooding, Samoa's Ministry of Works, Transport and Infrastructure commissioned Bluebird/AHLAL to design and construct a stormwater reticulation network to better control Apia's stormwater runoff under heavy rainfall conditions.

While visiting Samoa collecting information to finalise our peer review, discussions with interested stakeholders resulted in Woods being engaged to take over the design and modelling works to maximise the outcomes of the floodway and drainage improvements. Due to the delays in the contract to that point, time was of the essence.

Despite the demanding deadline, it was imperative that speed did not compromise the quality of the stormwater catchment analysis. Woods' team of experts considered a range of flood mitigation options to determine the best possible solution that would meet all requirements for the flood mitigation of Apia's central business district.

Accurate survey data was unavailable in several key areas, so survey teams were quickly mobilized to collect the data necessary to allow the preparation of a number of robust hydraulic models with which to test appropriate solutions. Woods' technical skills and use of technology came to the fore and a practical solution was found and proven via hydraulic modelling within eight weeks.

In order to minimise delays, documented drawings for the contract were then prepared in a staged manner and given to the Client as they became available so as to allow them to start construction very close to the originally programmed contract, despite the problems and major changes in the design team.