Constructed Wetland Case Study: New York Harbor
Constructed Wetland Case Study: New York Harbor
Constructed Wetland Case Study: New York Harbor
Strategies
Terraced Tidal Flats at Sea Walls Floating Wetlands in Tidal Shallows Upland Ecological Restoration
BuSHwick iNlEt
In the low lying land that defines the border between Greenpoint and Williamsburg is the Bushwick Inlet, the only remaining feature of a stream that once meandered inland about one mile, to the area around the present day McCarren Park. Many blocks within this area are post-industrial brown-fields. Inland restoration of this area proposes a park and wetland system organized around a winding stream and tidal flood plain carried out without de-mapping the existing city street system, allowing the grid to continue uninterrupted.
wHalE crEEk
The Whale Creek tributary was filled to provide land for petroleum industries seeking building sites along the Newtown Creek. The Whale Creek that once flowed into a salt marsh, currently ends at the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant. Restoration of Whale Creek proposes to introduce broad shallow pools bordering mudflats and marshlands placing a wetland system in proximity to a centralized wastewate r facility. The wetland would act as a supplemental filtration system, working to clean overflow, urban run-off as well as a processed effluent and be a visible symbol of integrated infrastructure.
HallEtS covE
East and opposite the northern tip of Roosevelt Island is a calm part of the east River know as Hallets cove. This natural inlet just south of the Hell Gate is defined and protected by the extension of land to the north, Hallets point. The northern rocky shorelines were filled to expand the land area of Astoria. The proposal imagines island areas and near shore wetlands built of rock and earth platforms and through the excavation and shallow dredging of backfilled lands along the southwestern edge.
Navigational Dredging Policy should be made to concentrate maritime industry and shipping at critical zones. The overall amount of channelization should be reduced to support functioning navigational routes and maintain active berths (with an allowance for expanding maritime activity as a transportation alternative.) Channelization and navigational dredging should incorporate environmental cleanup of contaminated waterways and not be maintained simply because it has been the historical prerogative. One Prize Registration #130
Historic Tidelands 1815
Increasing populations will place growing demands on our nations aging water and wastewater infrastructure. The integration of closedloop systems that emphasize water efficiency, and on-site supply, treatment and reuse is becoming increasingly important as communities seek to strengthen the resiliency of their water systems.
Most urban water infrastructures are becoming vulnerable to extreme rainfall events due to climate change (CC). Maintaining such system becomes costly because of aging infrastructure and increasing energy cost. Furthermore, an alternative water infrastructure should be introduced to reduce the CO2 emission.
Han, M. Y., MUN, J. S., and KIM, H. J, An Example of Climate Change Adaptation by Rainwater Management at the Star City Rainwater Project
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
IN RESPONSE TO... ALTERNATIVE WATER MANAGEMENT GROWING APPRECIATION AND CONFUSION QUESTIONS ON HYBRID PROJECTS AND VARIED SITE CONDITIONS
> WHAT IS THE VALUE, MEANING AND ROLE OF THE WETLANDS? > HOW DO YOU DEFINE CONSTRUCTED? > WHAT ARE THE COMMON TYPES OF CONSTRUCTED WETLANDS AND HOW SHOULD WE APPROACH THEIR DESIGN AND MANAGE MENT DIFFERENTLY?
LITERATURE/BACKGROUND
performance of these systems could enable further acceptance and appreciation of artificial wetlands.
METHODS
I would like to begin with a basic question, what is wetland? and how do you define constructed?. Topics in water managements, low impact developments, and function-based landscape infrastructure will be examined to lay out a theoretical framework. Then, I would like to look and compare various types of artificial wetlands from large to small, urban and rural, contained and loose, natural and engineered, in order to deduce some kind of classification system of artificial wetlands and the baseline/criteria for monitoring and evaluation. Then, 3 projects of different scales will be selected for further case study evaluations.
Case 4
Case 5
Type Purpose Feature Benefit Case Studies: What are the common types of constructed wetlands?
Broad classification and setting baseline/criteria In addition to personally visiting and evaluating each of these 3 project, I hope I would be able based on secondary research to contact and interview designers and site maintenance people or managers (i.e. government agency, In-depth Case Studies - Evaluation/Management -Magnuson Wetlands -Crissy Fields -Saemanguem Land Reclaimation Interview -Berger -PWA Consulting -LS Environmetal Restoration -US Corps of Engineers
community group, etc.). From whom, I would be able to learn how those project have been evolved over time and how they dealt with expected processes and unexpected challenges. Ultimately, I would like to derive a few criteria for designing and managing a successful artificial wetlands system according to its size, location and other classifying factors.
CASE/SITES
PROGRESS/CHALLENGES
PROGRESS -Initial Literature Review -Understanding Intediciplinary Dynamics -Establishing Research Questions -Reviewing Potential Sites
CHALLENGES -Self-Confusion of the Topic / Spilling Out -Site Selection for Monitoring and Evaluation -Balancing Objectivity and Having a Perspective