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graduated steel cisterns, with capacity to store 2569 gallons of stormwater and slowly return it to the earth, while providing space to propagate various wetland plants. Steel tubing circulates water between cisterns and pond. |
Flooding is a major problem on this block in New Orleans, where most ground surface is impermeable. At this courtyard shared by multiple buildings, I worked with Evans + Lighter Landscape Architects to design to build a series of graduated steel cisterns and constructed wetland to manage large amounts of stormwater. This previously-overgrown courtyard (accessible to residences, a workshop, and commercial space) is now revamped to hold water onsite, slowly return it to the soil, and be used by water tolerant plants. The project was featured in the New Orleans Times-Picayune in September 2014. My roles with the project included welding/constructing all cisterns and water management systems, construction oversight, design consultation, general sitework/installation, and plumbing, among other responsibilities.
During a rain event, water flows off of the roofs of buildings into rerouted gutters to two separate locations:
1) a large 4'x10'x4'H steel cistern, which flows into a series of 3 smaller cisterns, and eventually into a steel-edged pond. When the pond fills, equilibrium creates a flow into a runnel which leads to...
2) a constructed wetland holding cypress trees, muhly grass, dwarf palmettos, lilies, and sedges: this is the end destination for water before it infiltrates the soil, filling with water during heavy rains. In the center of the wetland is a reflecting pond which is framed by the brick hallway as one enters the complex over 100 feet away.
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| The pond allows for flow below its edges into an oyster-shell filled weir runnel, with various sedges, lilies, and arrowheads . When water overflows the weir it finally reaches the wetland to be absorbed into the soil. |
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| Water flows between the cisterns through adjustable valves and overflow notches. The cisterns contain driftwood-based floatants, which mimic reeds and other plant matter that forms floating interconnected mats in wetlands, on which plants such as Equisetum (horsetail) and other plants can grow. |
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| the approach to the courtyard frames the reflecting pond, Saraswati, and muhly grass |