Demonstrates and Educates
The American Red Cross recently built a new headquarters located just off Interstate 71, between Evanston Avenue and Realistic Avenue, in Cincinnati. The project site is located at a CSO structure currently averaging 58 annual overflows, resulting in 201 million gallons of annual overflow volume.
As part of Project Groundwork’s enablement projects, MSD sponsored the American Red Cross’ effort to construct two source control features, including a 2,000-square-foot, sloped, vegetative roof and a 13,330 square-foot bio-infiltration area. The sloped roof will be highly visible and will demonstrate the effectiveness of green roofs in reducing the volume of rooftop runoff. The bioinfiltration basin will store stormwater so that it doesn’t contribute to peak flows in combined sewers, and it will reduce stormwater flow overall by enabling stormwater seepage into the ground. As a result, in a typical year of rainfall, the combined annual runoff volume could be reduced by nearly 978,000 gallons.
The American Red Cross coupled a significant educational program with these features, so that visitors could learn about the benefits of source control. The educational program included posters, brochures and flyers that highlight the stormwater management systems and MSD’s role in this project. An interactive, electronic touch-screen display describes the major components. The data from a flow monitor is also incorporated into the interactive display.