Site Development
Metra Consultation provides integrated site-development engineering services for residential, commercial, industrial, institutional, and mixed-use projects throughout Québec.
Successful site development requires the coordination of grading, drainage, stormwater management, municipal services, roads, parking, earthworks, geotechnical conditions, and building requirements. Our multidisciplinary team develops practical and constructible solutions that support the project from initial planning through permitting and construction.
Our Services
Our site-development services may include:
- Preliminary site and feasibility assessments
- Review of zoning, municipal criteria, and available infrastructure
- Site layout and civil design coordination
- Existing-condition and topographic plan review
- Grading and drainage design
- Storm sewer system design
- Stormwater management and flow-control design
- Water and sanitary sewer servicing
- Municipal utility connection design
- Road, driveway, parking, and pavement design
- Earthwork and cut-and-fill calculations
- Erosion and sediment-control planning
- Retaining wall and slope coordination
- Coordination of geotechnical investigations
- Civil engineering plans, details, and technical reports
- Support for municipal permits and MELCCFP authorizations
- Tender and construction documentation
- Construction support and site review when included in the mandate
Preliminary Site Assessment
Early assessment helps determine whether a proposed development can be efficiently serviced and constructed.
Our team reviews the site to identify potential constraints such as:
- Limited municipal servicing capacity
- Existing utility conflicts
- Significant changes in elevation
- Poor drainage or flood exposure
- Weak or compressible soils
- High groundwater levels
- Rock excavation requirements
- Restricted access or limited construction space
- Nearby foundations and neighbouring properties
- Watercourses, wetlands, or environmentally sensitive areas
- Municipal discharge and stormwater restrictions
Identifying these conditions early supports informed decisions regarding project layout, cost, schedule, and required investigations.
Grading and Drainage
Site grading must safely direct surface water away from buildings while maintaining accessible entrances, functional roads and parking areas, and appropriate transitions to neighbouring properties.
Our grading and drainage designs may address:
- Proposed site elevations
- Positive drainage around buildings
- Driveway and parking slopes
- Pedestrian and accessible routes
- Catch-basin locations
- Surface ponding and emergency overflow routes
- Retaining walls and landscaped slopes
- Snow-storage areas
- Coordination with foundation elevations
- Protection of adjacent properties from uncontrolled runoff
The design is coordinated with architectural, structural, landscape, and municipal requirements.
Municipal Servicing
Our civil engineering team designs and coordinates the infrastructure required to service the proposed development, including:
- Domestic and fire-water connections
- Sanitary sewer services
- Storm sewer systems
- Manholes and catch basins
- Pumping systems where gravity drainage is not feasible
- Connection points, pipe sizes, slopes, and elevations
- Separation and clearance between underground utilities
- Coordination with municipal infrastructure and approval requirements
When required, we also support utility-connection permit applications and communication with municipal departments.
Stormwater Management
New development typically increases impervious surfaces and stormwater runoff. Our engineers assess pre-development and post-development conditions and design appropriate systems to manage runoff quantity and, where required, water quality.
Solutions may include:
- Underground storage systems
- Rooftop detention
- Controlled parking-lot ponding
- Detention or retention basins
- Oversized pipes
- Flow-control devices
- Vegetated swales and bioretention areas
- Infiltration systems where soil conditions permit
- Emergency surface-overflow routes
Each solution is selected based on municipal criteria, site conditions, available space, maintenance requirements, and constructability.
Roads, Parking, and Pavements
Our site-development services may include the geometric and pavement design of:
- Internal roads
- Access drives
- Parking areas
- Loading zones
- Fire-department access routes
- Pedestrian pathways
- Curbs and sidewalks
Pavement recommendations are coordinated with traffic requirements, anticipated vehicle loads, drainage conditions, frost susceptibility, and geotechnical findings.
Earthworks and Geotechnical Coordination
Site development often requires excavation, filling, soil improvement, or changes to existing ground elevations.
Our civil and geotechnical teams work together to address:
- Cut-and-fill requirements
- Reuse or replacement of onsite soils
- Compaction requirements
- Excavation stability
- Settlement considerations
- Groundwater management
- Temporary and permanent slopes
- Retaining structures
- Pavement subgrade conditions
- Foundation and underground-service coordination
This collaboration helps reduce unforeseen site conditions and supports reliable construction planning.
Integrated Multidisciplinary Design
Site infrastructure cannot be designed independently from the building.
Metra Consultation coordinates its civil, structural, geotechnical, and BIM teams to ensure that:
- Site services do not conflict with foundations
- Building elevations correspond with grading and drainage
- Excavations are compatible with soil and groundwater conditions
- Retaining walls and slopes are properly integrated
- Underground utilities are coordinated in three dimensions
- Stormwater systems remain accessible for operation and maintenance
- Designs are practical, coordinated, and constructible
Our Process
Our typical site-development process includes:
- Reviewing the project objectives and available documentation
- Assessing existing site conditions and municipal requirements
- Identifying constraints, required studies, and servicing options
- Developing the preliminary civil design
- Coordinating with architectural, structural, geotechnical, landscape, and mechanical teams
- Completing engineering calculations and detailed design
- Preparing plans, reports, and permit documentation
- Responding to municipal and regulatory comments
- Issuing final documents for permit, tender, or construction
- Providing construction support and site review when required
Information Typically Required
To begin, we may request:
- Topographic and legal survey information
- Certificate of location
- Architectural and site plans
- Proposed building use and occupancy
- Existing municipal utility information
- Municipal correspondence and design criteria
- Geotechnical or environmental reports
- Landscape and parking requirements
- Information regarding nearby watercourses, wetlands, or flood zones
- Existing civil plans and servicing records
If information is unavailable, our team can identify the surveys, investigations, and supporting studies required.
Why Choose Metra Consultation?
Metra Consultation brings civil, structural, geotechnical, and BIM expertise together under one coordinated team.
We are committed to providing:
- Responsive and professional service
- Early identification of site constraints
- Practical and cost-conscious engineering solutions
- Effective interdisciplinary coordination
- Clear plans, calculations, and technical documentation
- Support throughout permitting and construction
- High-quality deliverables aligned with project schedules
Contact Us
Planning a new development, building expansion, redevelopment, or change in site use?
Contact Metra Consultation to discuss your project and develop a coordinated site-development strategy based on your objectives, site conditions, and municipal requirements.