Tech Clinic Presents Recommendations for
West Ward Environmental Improvements Dec. 18
Posted by: Noel Jones
Six students in a Technology Clinic class spent the past two semesters working with Easton’s West Ward Neighborhood Partnership on issues concerning the management of surface water runoff. To hear the results, go to the presentation in Room 103 of Hugel Center at 4 p.m. this Friday, Dec. 18th--it is open to the public.
The project looks at ways to reduce and manage water runoff in a portion of the West Ward, the adjoining escarpment, and the Lehigh River.
Tech Clinic is a hands-on course founded in 1986 that brings together students from different majors to help solve the real-world problems of a business, nonprofit organization, or government body.
This is a good opportunity for those who were involved in the "Is Lafayette A Good Neighbor" conversation earlier on this blog to find out first hand what students have been up to in the neighborhood.
If you are able to attend, please post a comment here to let readers know the findings and how you liked the event overall.
Posts
4 comments:
not sure where the little arrows came from on this post--somehow a result of cutting and pasting...
i am interested to no how much this issue of run off water effects WW residents. are we having any flooding problems in the neighborhood?
if you have had an issue with this or other results of water run-off problems, please post here. i have not had any problems, but what bothers me is how much garbage gets swept into the storm drains...
I have had a long standing run-off problem on Chidsey Street. Most WW streets are steep and prone to run-off. The factors included in my problem are...
Easton Heights Cemetary doesn't maintian the area outside their fenceline and thus many trees over the years have fallen and not been replaced. This leads to soil erosion during storms on the steep slopes bordering the western edge of the property.
All the water from the highpoint of Easton Heights - N 11th, Jackson, N 12th and Juniper Streets - flow onto Chidsey.
The unimproved section of Juniper between N 12th and it's termination at the top of the Cemetary hill, drains all the run-off across the eroding hillside, onto N 12th and then Chidsey. The situation is made worse since this "paper street" is used as a dumping ground by people (contractors perhaps?) at the top of the hill and all the glass and other crap runs down onto my street along with the rocks and mud.
This erosion problem resulted in a large tree being uprooted and collapsing into the street last summer. I spoke with public works and the highway dept. about it and they came out and escavated the hillside, laid filter cloth and poured huge boulders down the side of the hill to break the flow of water. It has worked well so far from a technical standpoint.
In the long term it isn't aesthetically acceptable and soemthing else will have to be done. Driving by what appears to be an open strip mining site everyday isn't very pleasant.
My solution is to repave the section of Juniper from N 11th to its termination at the western cemetary edge with permeable interlocking concrete pavers (PICP) and allowing the storm run-off to perk back into the ground where it belongs. This method is tested to remove 100% of run-off from places it has been used...We have so much water coming down during storms that it makes you wonder how we are in compliance with DEP regs.
The city won't try it because they say we are too prone to sinkholes and this would cause more. I'm not buying it. I've researched its use in sinkhole prone areas and it has performed as expected without causing problems. If there was a perfect trial site to use this method, Juniper Street would be it. I'm reay to try it.
DRL
Was anyone able to attend this? If so, please post about it. I was out of town, unfortunately.
Post a Comment