Week 8 Progress

• Week 8

During this week our group focused mainly on the deliverables. By the end of this Week 9 we plan to finish our work with the deliverables, and calculate the amount of water our system will be able to support. The remaining days before the project deadline will be dedicated to the revision of Final Proposal and preparation of presentation slides.

Figure 1.Sketchup Base Plan

Figure 2.Drainage Area Map

Comments: At this site when the rainfall occurs the water slowly approaches from the top of the parking lot to the bottom. The drainage area (Figure 2) is highlighted in the light blue color and the arrows indicate the flow of rainfall water.  

Figure 3. Proposed Design Plan

Figure 4. Frontal View of Curb Depression

The diagram shown above shows the side profile of the curbs that are implemented within the parking lot. With the use of the 5" growing media, storm water can be more efficiently absorbed and infiltrated into the curb implementation. The growing media consists of a variety of plants containing roots that allow for more efficient absorption. As for the water that doesn't completely infiltrate into the roots and growing media, it will flow into the depression (the dip) and continue to flow elsewhere. As the storm water passes through the growing media, it eventually reaches the Geotextile (1" in thickness) which filters out the water. This filtered water travels through the stone trench and into pipes that lead into an existing sewage system. Surrounding the stone trench lies regular soil that is shared with the surrounding environment. This does not act as excess stormwater and does not get directed into the existing sewer. Instead, it simply infiltrates as much as it can until it overflows and directs itself into the stone trench (Unlikely to happen unless very heavy rainfall). 

Figure 5. Top view of Curb Depression

This figure displays a top view of the entire curb infrastructure, which will be placed against the outer perimeter of the parking lot by the train station, respectively. This view clearly shows the curb depression from a view above and highlights the inclining slope that allows the overflow of water to successfully infiltrate into the stone trench and eventually direct the excess storm water into the existing sewer system (only occurs when the growing media reaches it's infiltration capacity and begins to overflow). 

Week 7 Progress

Week 7 was dedicated to the Final Proposal Draft, and overall design of the site. In this blog we want to introduce you with the progress we have made in designing the site (Figure 1).

                                                                               Figure 1

Comments on the design 

The major part of Proposed GSI (1560 m^2) will be placed on the right part of parking lot. This design will facilitate the flow of water from left to right and increase water absorption in the right part of parking lot. Also, it was observed that the free space located in the upper part of the site, in confine with the the railroad, can be used to implement GSI methods.

Figure 2. Curb Bump Out Design in AutoCad

Figure 3. Front View

Brief Description

The figure above (Figure 3) displays the intentional design of the curb within the JFK Parking Lot. The standard measurements for a curb will be implemented with our design (6" Reveal on curb; Total thickness of 18" hidden underneath the asphalt, clearly listed in Figure 3). In between each of the curb cut outs, there will be a pathway that will lead out onto the main sidewalk connected to the street (JFK Boulevard). The curb bump-out will be implemented out onto the main street (Shown in Figure 4) and provide efficient use of the large space that is already created from the original sidewalk.

Figure 4. Top View

Meet our Group!

Group Members    

Vince Fung, vef26@drexel.edu

Eshik Rahman, er494@drexel.edu

Mario Frakulla, mf849@drexel.edu

Devon Tevis, devtev3@gmail.com

Technical Advisor      

Scott Jeffers, smj46@drexel.edu

Brief Description of each Individual Group Member

Vince Fung
Major: Mechanical Engineering

       Individual Task(s) in Design Project:

• Creating & maintaining the Permeable Lot Infrastructure Blog Website which highlights varying complications faced during creation, displays in-depth descriptions of structures used, etc.
• Completing the AutoCAD sketch of the curb depression with specific measurements displaying depth, surface area, etc.

     

Eshik Rahman
Major: Computer Engineering

     

       Individual Task(s) in Design Project:

• Creating the AutoCAD sketch of the Drainage plan for the Green Stormwater Infrastructure which displays the flow of the storm water and the importance of this sub-system

Mario Frakulla

Major: Mechanical Engineering

       Individual Task(s) in Design Project:

• In charge of designing overall Infrastructure in terms of location of Infrastructure, measurements of varying structures, and highlighting the importance of the materials incorporated
• Creating the AutoCAD sketch of the overall view of the  Permeable Lot Infrastructure, which includes specifics such as measurements and important data

Devon Tevis 
Major: Mechanical Engineering

         Individual Task(s) in Design Project:

• Creating the SketchUp model of the infrastructure that highlights the varying uses of agriculture throughout the entire Framework

GSI and Permeable Asphalt in our Site

The two main methods that we plan to use for managing stormwater in our site are:

• GSI
• Permeable Asphalt

The design of these two components was based on terrain data that we got from Google Earth, which accounted for a difference of 28 feet between left and right extrema (Figure 1, 2) of the parking lot. We intend to create a flow of water from left to right of the parking lot, which will be facilitated by these two methods. 

           

   Figure 1 Left Corner, elevation 70 feet                          Figure 2 Right corner, elevation 42 feet

GSI

This method will account for the majority of the rainwater in our site. Curb bump outs will be placed on the right part of parking lot, in which most of the water absorption will happen. Curb cuts will be placed every 12.75 - 13.00 m (Figure 3), which will allow water absorption by the soil. The total area covered by these methods , in the right part of the parking lot is around 1560 m^2 . Furthermore, the vegetation that will be used in this part of the site (Figure 4, 5,6) have moderate absorption rates, are native to US, and their dimensions match with our overall design. 

Figure 3. Curb Bump Out

Figure 4. Blackeyed Susan

Figure 5. Fountain Grass

                                       

                                                     

Figure 6. New England Aster

Table 1. Characteristics of the species used in the site

Permeable Asphalt

In order to overcome the problem of the plateau located near the railway supports, we plan to use permeable asphalt in certain areas of the parking lot. This will increase water absorption by the asphalt in the respective areas, by avoiding the creation of puddles of water during rainstorms, which not only hinder water flow, but also slowly damage the asphalt.

• How will Permeable Asphalt work in our site?

The joint material allows for water to seep in between the concrete pavement, and into either the sub base or the under drain. Theoretically, the under drain will retrieve water and deliver it to a source of water. The down pour that occurs within the parking lot will theoretically be delivered directly into Schuylkill River, preventing potential erosion and sedimentation.

[1] “Landscape Manual 2014” |Philadelphia Water Department, N.p. Web  2014, n.d. Web. 17 May 2017