Coal-tar sealants may protect your driveway—but they don’t protect water resources. Here’s the dirt: Driveways and parking lots are coated with a sealant to protect them. But the coating needs to be reapplied every two to three years because driving on it grinds it into dust. And that means as dust wears off, any given …
Category Archive: Green Infrastructure
Permanent link to this article: http://www.currentcast.org/green-infrastructure/when-good-driveways-go-bad/
Nov 27
Re-envisioning Our Rivers
Could a city famous for its lakefront become better known for its rivers instead? CurrentCast investigates—listen up: The “riverfront city by the lake” has a nice ring to it. And yet, Chicago’s key rivers—the Chicago, Calumet, and Des Plaines—have historically played a more utilitarian role for the Windy City, making it a center of commerce …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.currentcast.org/green-infrastructure/re-envisioning-our-rivers/
Nov 05
Save the Sewers, Catch Some Rain
A growing network of rain gardens . . . Learn more: A group of non-profits are mobilizing volunteers to install rain gardens in residential neighborhoods in Detroit. These specially designed gardens trap water before it can overwhelm the sewer system, and keep it from running across surfaces where it could pick up pollution and carry it …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.currentcast.org/stormwater-management/detroit-wants-you-to-catch-some-rain/
Nov 01
Not All Engineers Work In An Office
Build up knowledge on nature’s engineers . . . Learn more: “Before European colonization, beavers would have been ubiquitous across the northern United States Great Lakes region,” explains Melinda Daniels of the Stroud Water Research Center in Pennsylvania. She says in developed areas, beaver dams can be a nuisance, “but if there’s room, beavers are …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.currentcast.org/green-infrastructure/not-all-engineers-work-in-an-office/
Oct 24
Climate Woes in Pennsylvania Waterways
Climate change is bringing warmer, wetter weather to the Keystone State. Shen: “If we were to summarize the changes that Pennsylvania is facing in two words, that would be warmer and wetter.” Chaopeng Shen of Penn State says climate change affects fresh water, in part because unusually warm weather helps foster algal blooms that can contaminate water …
Permanent link to this article: http://www.currentcast.org/stormwater-management/climate-woes-in-pennsylvania-waterways/