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A partnership between The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) and
The Philadelphia Water Department (PWD) led to the formation of a plan
in 2005 to incorporate stormwater management techniques into the
Greenway Project, which sought to stabilize abandoned inner city lots. The new pilot program incorporates stormwater management techniques to
assuage the citywide problems of flooding, combined sewer overflow into
waterways, and nonpoint pollution. By
detaining and infiltrating stormwater running off nearby streets and
sidewalks with the use of basins and native plants, the overloaded
neighborhood stormwater system is spared. A native plant list can
be found
here.
The stormwater is diverted from the system by mimicking natural
processes with landscaping solutions rather than with infrastructure
solutions.
The five lots in the pilot program were excavated and cleared of debris
and (except the 3rd Street & North Bodine Street site) were
graded to a 2% slope. Soil berms were built up to create retention
areas 6 inches deep located at least 25 feet from existing buildings.
Click on the following links for grading plans:
N. 3rd & N. Bodine (2323 N. 3rd St.),
N.
3rd & W. Norris,
N. 8th & W. Berks,
N.
8th & W. Norris, and
N. 9th & W. Norris.
Four
inches of topsoil, amended with leaf compost, was re-deposited in the
basins. Elsewhere on the lots the surface soil was loosened by tillage
to a depth of 3 to 4 inches and 3 inches of amended soil was then
added. The design at the 3rd Street & North Bodine Street
site graded two-thirds of the site to a slope. This approach left the
remaining third of the land graded flat, acting as a retention basin. The water has been infiltrating successfully during storm events.
A year after planting was completed, Temple University’s department of
Landscape Architecture and Horticulture conducted field surveys in order
to record the status of vegetation and soil profiles. Data was
collected for the purpose of running stormwater modeling techniques.
Using a penetrometer, the compaction of soils was analyzed and a
DEP-approved device called a Turf-ric double ring infiltration meter was
used to measure field stormwater infiltration rates. Soil samples were
taken using an ASTM soil auger, and a composite was made and texture,
bulk density, soil porosity and volumetric water content were analyzed.
As calculated by Temple University’s Department of Landscape
Architecture and Horticulture, accumulated runoff decreased by 90,934
gallons on these sites between June 2005 and May 2006. These results
were simulated using a SWMM 5.0 model.
The City’s thousands of fragmented vacant parcels provide a land
management challenge. This project is the first step in developing a
model for integrating vacant land parcels and stormwater management in
an urban redevelopment framework. Future technological advances will
need to be addressed to ameliorate cost-effective design to further
maximize runoff collection. The maintenance of these sites is
important so that they are perceived as important community assets. PHS’s partnership with city government will help ensure the oversight
and stewardship of these demonstration sites.
The
completed converted area for these 5 sites was 86,392 square feet. The
project was completed from October 2004 through December 2006. This
pilot program is also a demonstration program to educate the public
about the use of stormwater best management practices (BMPs). Signage
in English and Spanish is posted onsite at each of 5 sites, as well as
along various vacant sites along N 3rd St. and Berks Street
corridor.
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County:
Philadelphia
Watershed:
Delaware
River
The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Clean and Green Program is a
component of the “Green City Strategy,” aimed at 6 target areas in
Philadelphia. One of these target areas consist of 5 lots located on N.
9th Street, Norris Street and Berks Street, where stormwater
management techniques have been implemented on cleared and clean vacant
parcels.
View
all
TVSSI BMPs in a larger map
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Site |
Installation Cost ($) |
Maintenance Cost ($) |
Total Cost ($) |
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3rd & N.
Bodine |
47,990 |
1,700 |
49,690 |
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3rd & W.
Norris |
9,885 |
1,300 |
11,185 |
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8th & N.
Berks |
1,300 |
1,300 |
12,652 |
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8th & W.
Norris |
25,045 |
3,160 |
28,205 |
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9th & W.
Norris |
18,657 |
3,160 |
21,817 |
Pennsylvania DEP Growing
Greener Grant for $200,000
Matching contributions came from city partnerships.
Cost savings resulted in interpretive signage.
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