PWD’s Watersheds blog closes out the year with a list of 11 green missions accomplished in 2011, from innovative stormwater management projects and stream restorations to groundbreaking policy agreements and energy-generating solar arrays.
Philadelphia’s first depaving project got underway this year at Eadom and Bridge Streets, just west of I-95 in Frankford. PWD’s Waterways Restoration Team coordinated with neighborhood volunteers to depave a portion of the parking lot and install and plant the first of six rain gardens planned for the site in April. In November, 18 volunteers from PWD planted three additional rain gardens.
Once completed, the Eadom Street Project will convert 10,000 square feet of impervious concrete to rain gardens that allow stormwater to infiltrate the soil instead of flowing into our sewers. Not only do green infrastructure projects such as rain gardens help protect our waterways and beautify the neighborhood, they also reduce stormwater bills for property owners. In all, the Eadom Street project will manage stormwater runoff from two acres.
Click here to download a rendering of the finished parking lot. (875 KB PDF)
