Group 073-09: The Deterioration of 32nd and Arch Street

This week, we have been pretty lax with our posts. We updated and finished the background material page with the addition of the Stormwater Greenstreets and Rain Gardens posts. We also updated the links page with some of our current favorites. Before the lab, we decided to work on becoming familiar with SketchUp so that during lab, we can start designing and building our structures. Hopefully, by the end of the lab, we will have learned how to overlay google images onto SketchUp correctly in order to complete at least one of the structures. We also updated the videos and tutorials for newbies to SketchUp so go ahead and check it out! Below are some pictures of our progress!

What are they: “A rain garden is a shallow depressed area in the ground that absorbs rain from streets, allowing rain to soak directly into the soil.”  Made up of shrubs and perennials native to the area, rain gardens are an effective GSI in reduce the amount of runoff from potentially flooding local streets. Advantages/Benefits: Filter out pollutants from entering sewage system Reduce flooding Reduce water usage Enhanced sidewalk appeal Allow up to 30% more water to soak into ground Disadvantages/Challenges: Having a soil texture and structure that would maximize water infiltration Inlet structures, if not correctly placed, can limit rain garden functionality Standard soil depth and large enough surface area Proper maintenance to prevent severe erosion from stopping rain garden functionality. Location of rain garden Durable plants How they work: During prolonged periods of rainfall, water will travel from hard surf...

What are they: Green street infrastructures are implemented into sidewalks to work towards the goal of preventing damage to the sidewalk itself and also the area nearby. Green streets have multiple components: street trees, permeable pavements, bioretention, and bioswales. By adding green streets to urban areas, the environment will be positively affected. Advantages: Green street infrastructures protect downstream water quality and also reduce quantities of CSO.  Decreases damage to sidewalks  Takes advantage of sidewalk space that is not being used for anything necessary  By planting trees within the area of the green street infrastructure area, it will decrease the amount of the urban island heat effect.  Disadvantages: It is a relatively new design, thus there is still much to research on how to make it better. Location. Different areas in the country experience different types of storms. Green street infrastructures work best in loca...

Below are some of the videos we found on Youtube for beginners and newcomers to SketchUp: By PcGamerPortal- A more in-depth video by WorkshopAddict- A video on Site Modeling in SketchUp by SketchUp- A video on How to Import a GoogleMap into SketchUp by Designer Hacks-

This week, I really wanted the group to do research on specific GSI's to use in our project. We had an idea of what to use from the Project Proposal, but we weren't sure what we would be able to implement. We decided to use Stormwater Greenstreets, Right-of-Way Bioswales, Rain Gardens, and Stormwater Bump-Outs. Each team member was assigned a specific GSI to research and write a blog post about. Currently, we added my page about Right-of-Way Bioswales, along with Ina's fabulous Stormwater Bump-Out post to the background material section of our blog. Carolina also created an amazing rendering of what our project would look like, now the featured post on the blog. By Monday, Alex and Carolina will have completed their background material posts, and we will be able to move towards creating our GSI's through sketch-up. I was also able to create a helpful links page for those who want to do some more research, or want some more information about green stormwater infrastruc...

Right-of-Way Bioswales: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/stormwater/combined_sewer_overflow_bmps.shtml http://www.spur.org/news/2013-08-08/8-shades-green-infrastructure https://www.epa.gov/green-infrastructure/what-green-infrastructure http://www.powerhousegrowers.com/7-types-green-infrastructure-practices/ http://www.hazenandsawyer.com/work/services/green-infrastructure/ http://www.turfmagazine.com/services/bioswales-and-rain-gardens-the-right-way/ Stormwater Bump-Outs: http://www.phillywatersheds.org/what_were_doing/green_infrastructure/tools/stormwater_bumpout Stormwater Greenstreets: https://www.werf.org/liveablecommunities/toolbox/gst_design.htm https://www.werf.org/liveablecommunities/toolbox/gst_design.htm https://www.epa.gov/G3/learn-about-green-streets Rain Gardens: https://www.epa.gov/soakuptherain/soak-rain-rain-gardens http://www.groundw...

What are they: Right-of-way bioswales are green infrastructures designed to capture stormwater runoff and alleviate the water, therefore reducing the number of water that enters the sewer system, and reducing the chance of sewer flooding. Bioswales are typically vegetated or mulched and treat water as it flows into the system, while also reducing the amount of water that does enter the system. They are best placed along streets and parking lots as it is easiest for them to care for and capture the water in those locations. Advantages/Benefits: Decrease the amount of pollutants in the water before it reaches the sewer, cutting costs of water treatment Water is absorbed by trees and plants through evapotranspiration Remaining water evaporates after the rain stops If the Bioswale reaches capacity, the water will flow out into the catch basin while following its normal pattern The plants used in the Bioswales help add to the atmosphere while providing a po...

What are they: “A stormwater bumpout is a vegetated curb extension that protrudes into the street either mid-block or at an intersection, creating a new curb some distance from the existing curb. A bumpout is composed of a layer of stone that is topped with soil and plants. An inlet or curb-cut directs runoff into the bumpout structure where it can be stored, infiltrated, and taken up by the plants (evapotranspiration). Excess runoff is permitted to leave the system and flow to an existing inlet. The vegetation of the bumpout will be short enough to allow for open sight lines of traffic. Aside from managing stormwater, bumpouts also help with traffic-calming, and when located at crosswalks, they provide a pedestrian safety benefit by reducing the street crossing distance.” Advantages/Benefits: -shorten crossing distances on streets (safer for pedestrians) -gives perception of road narrowing so drivers slow down in this area -reduce stormwater overflow -add curb a...

This week, I've been working extensively on the blog. I have edited the theme, added some pictures and videos, created pages with links to certain labels, and I will change the theme again so the picture I want displayed (that of our chosen area) acts as the background for the blog. On the blog, we have the biography page finished, and content in both the weekly progress and background information tabs. We searched on Thursday for the best areas to revamp, and we decided on the area near the Steinbright career center as it is prone to major water buildup and flooding. We have been working on the design proposal, and will finish that tonight. We will continue to work on the blog so hopefully we can get rid of the filler pages, and get some actual content in the blog. Here are some pictures below of what the blog currently looks like: Thanks for following the development of our blog, and we hope you enjoy it! 

Q: What is a stormwater Greenstreet, and how does it work? A: Green street infrastructures are implemented into sidewalks to work towards the goal of preventing damage to the sidewalk itself and also the area nearby. Q: What is a Rain Garden, and how does it work? A: "A rain garden is a shallow depressed area in the ground that absorbs rain from streets, allowing rain to soak directly into the soil." Made up of shrubs and perennials native to the area, rain gardens are an effective GSI in reduce the amount of runoff from potentially flooding local streets. Q: What is a Right-of-Way Bioswale, and how does it work? A: Right-of-way bioswales are green infrastructures designed to capture stormwater runoff and alleviate the water, therefore reducing the number of water that enters the sewer system, and reducing the chance of sewer flooding. Bioswales are typically vegetated or mulched and treat water as it flows into the system, while also reducing the amount of water t...

The goal of this project is to find and locate a space in the Philadelphia area suffering from flooding and a stormwater management problem. We have been tasked with creating a 3D model of the renovations to the area using Green Stormwater Infrastructures (GSIs) as the way of remediating the stormwater problem, including underground information of each of the GSIs. Along with the 3D model, we will create a drainage area map of the area, as well as a presentation of all the research we did and the results. We hope you enjoy following our progress, and efforts to renovate the area. Below is an image of green infrastructures, similar to what we will be doing:

While walking around campus last Thursday, we stumbled upon a road that seemed to be never ending in its flooding. The road was saturated with water, and no clear direction of flow, or discharge. The water lay stagnant, rather than draining into the nearby sewage system. The water seemed to be high enough to reach past the ankle, and though there was an incline, the water did not dissipate. In boots, our feet still became wet, and the trees seemed to be insignificant in their purpose of absorbing the water.

As evidence of the problem we will be addressing during this term, here are a couple examples of the flooding occurring there that we would use green infrastructure to help prevent.