Go Green! Go Lansing! and Ultra-Urban Bioretention

Lansing, Michigan's Downtown Rain Gardens: Design and Community Involvement

“…The goals of this unique retrofit project include 1) beautifying the corridor, 2) treating the "first flush" of runoff, 3) educating the public, and 4) providing a pedestrian-friendly environment (Thomas et al, 2008). Additionally, the rain gardens help attenuate peak flows for approximately 90% of the rainfall events and increase the available capacity in the existing storm sewer system.…”

“…Design elements heeding the characteristics of this ultra-urban area include a masonry block retaining wall, a precast concrete sump (sediment forebay), a metal plate walkway, and fencing. The design of the rain gardens was completed through collaboration between the City (Thomas et al, 2008). See Figure 2 and Figure 3 for a typical layout and cross-section, respectively.…”

“…See Figure 2 and Figure 3 for a typical layout and cross-section, respectively. (Thomas et al, 2008) (Thomas et al, 2008) Copyright ©2008 Water Environment Federation. All Rights Reserved…”

“…Plants were chosen for their tolerance to road salt, drought, flooding, height, and showiness, and are predominately native plants to Michigan (Thomas et al, 2008). As beautification is a primary goal of this project, all growth needs to look attractive.…”

“…To meet the goals of the soil media, the engineered soil mixture consisted of the following constituents by volume (Thomas et al, 2008):…”