Monday, July 13, 2009

If you can green a highway embankment, why not the banks of the River Des Peres?

Drivers heading north and south on Interestate 55 through Soulard and Benton Park see grass covered embankments. Every spring the embankments bloom with thousands of bright yellow daffodils. Volunteers plant the flowers. City crews (or are they from MoDOT?) mow the embankments.

The steepness of the slopes on the I-55 embankments look close to the same as those lining the River Des Peres. Unfortunately, the banks of River Des Peres don't look anywhere near as nice as the embankments along I-55 from Arsenal to Gravois.

The ones along the River Des Peres are covered mostly by broken up shards of rock, not trees, green grass, and flowers. Is there anything from a landscape design or soils and erosion control standpoint that would prevent the banks of the River Des Peres from achieving a similar green appearance?

3 comments:

Darknight said...

Well, because River Des Peres is not a highway, it is part of the storm water runoff system. Much of the embankment has been graveled or concreted over to aid in the flow of water downstream. It's not really designed with greenspace in mind...

Rick Bonasch said...

"Darknight's" comment raises questions about the design of drainage areas. Don't concrete embankments create higher volume flows than natural earthen ones?

These days, MSD is working to reduce the amount of impervious surfaces in our built environment. So it seems reasonable to think they would like to see vegetation growing along the banks of the RDP rather than stone and concrete.

Anonymous said...

Its really intresting things
thanks so much good job ,,


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