Our group came up with the idea for a bioswale between the West End Building and the West Quad Building. The area in question is located between the tennis courts and the West Quad Building stretching from the walkway beginning from West Quad almost all the way to W.E.B. Currently this area is sparsely covered with small, thin grasses that are planted over a netting of rope fibers that keep the soil from shifting or eroding when there is heavy rainfall. The whole area slopes down to the tennis courts, before which there are several small drains, which remove excess rainwater and redirect it to the sewers. We believe there is much more potential for this space.

Pictures:

Calculations:

In order to tackle of goal of making the best possible use of this space, we must first calculate the amount of rainwater that would need to be taken care of. In order to calculate how much rainwater falls, we assume increments 1 inch of rain over the entire area of the bioswale area.

Function:

Primarily, our goal is to make the best possible use of this space to create new Green Infrastructure that will promote more ecologically friendly conditions. That said, our idea is to redesign this patchy slope of grass into a bioswale that will both make good use of the rainwater that flows down its slope, as well as slow that same water down, preventing excess from running into the tennis courts, where it sits, waiting to be drained into the sewers through drains below the tennis courts. The water running off the bioswale will also be filtered, facilitating the water treatment process of the sanitation system. We plan to remove the soil currently in the potential bioswale area, and replace it with  soil that is more nutrient rich, and harder to erode. Replacing the net is also an option, however it still remains to be determined if the net would interfere with plant growth, which is the next and perhaps most important point.

The vegetation in the proposed bioswale that will replace the grasses currently there will be sturdy and well-rooted. Taller grasses and small, thick branching shrubs would make up a majority of the plants that would be located at the bottom of the bioswale’s slope. A thin layer of gravel before these plants would also potentially help slow water further, allowing for more infiltration. By the top of the swale, at the beginning of the slope, there would be plants with longer roots, to reach into the deeper volume of soil there, as well as further prevent erosion. Together, the plants’ thick-set roots, the thin layer of gravel or stones, and the netting would allow for enough infiltration of the water to have the whole structure performing as it should. At the end of the slope, closer to the W.E.B. building, the vegetation would mostly be grass.

Benefits and Potential Problems:

With this bioswale, we would simultaneously solve the issue of the water going into the drains by the tennis courts, prevent excess water from sitting below the courts, slow the erosion of the swale significantly, and rejuvenate a piece of land that has not reached its full potential. Additionally, in the spring and summer, the plants in the proposed bioswale would allow for much more evapotranspiration, cooling the area around the tennis courts. But along with the projected benefits, there are also limitations to this concept. The bioswale is not as deep as it seems to the naked eye. The slope tapers from the West Quad Building to W.E.B. and at most it is about 5 feet deep. This limits the type of plants that can inhabit that space, based on the area they would need for their roots. Another limitation is the reconstruction aspect, which would require some time and effort put into digging up the ground currently in the swale and replacing it with new soil. And finally, money. Despite the fact that the advantages of a new bioswale are great, paying for it is always someone’s grievance. I believe that despite all this, a bioswale would do a service to the walkway from West Quad to W.E.B., since it’s constantly used, and the landscaping in that space is not much more than the tennis courts and a few patches of grass. A new bioswale would be an environmentally friendly and beneficial alternative that would literally put new life into the area.