Design With Terrain and Gravels: Nature-Based Drainage Solutions for Sustainable Stormwater Management of Urban Areas
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Date
2019-11
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Abstract
Rapid urban growth and global climatic variability result in frequent flooding in urban areas
and pose unprecedented stress on the existing drainage infrastructures. In developed nations,
a shift in urban stormwater management from relying exclusively on gray, pipe-based
drainage infrastructures towards green, nature-based approaches referred to as Sustainable
Drainage Systems (SuDS), among others, is currently taking place. In cities of developing
countries, the existing gray infrastructures are not well developed, prompting an opportunity
of performing a technical leapfrogging towards SuDS. Through vigilant adoption of this
increasingly-practiced nature-based drainage solution, municipalities can provide better
drainage and flood control and create a fertile ground for more co-benefits to local residents
in terms of livelihood and livability.
This Ph.D. thesis identifies options to improve the drainage challenge of settlements
developed over higher slope terrains and low lying plains of urban areas in developing
countries with the high rate of urban growth and drainage infrastructure deficit, through
terrain modifications and introduction of gravel-based drainage design solutions as a nature based drainage option to control flooding and provide co-benefits.
The study is presented in three parts based on two empirical studies from case sites, both
developed in the south-western fringe of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and one desktop study
building upon one of the empirical studies. The case studies present the design of novel
drainage and stormwater harvesting solutions constructed by using locally available
materials and terrain modifications. The first design is for drainage of cobblestone streets in
hilly areas. The design is referred to as Infiltration Bumper with Tree Planter (IBTP) and
targets flood prevention, groundwater recharges and city greening simultaneously. The
second design is for the management of stormwater in low lying residential areas. The
design is referred to as Elevated Retention and Detention Basin (ERDB), and targets
waterlogging prevention, stormwater harvesting, and green area improvements. The first
solution (IBTP) is developed and tested to control stormwater runoff generated from the
local cobblestone streets within the designated case study catchments for a 2-year storm
event corresponding to 40 mm over 2 hours. The second solution (ERDB) is developed and
tested to control 100% stormwater runoff generated from the Jemo condominium (the
multistory residential neighborhood in Addis Ababa) within the designated case study
catchments for the same storm event. The desktop-study resulted in a GIS-based planning
tool for upscaling of the IBTP to a city-wide solution.
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Keywords
livelihood and livability,, City-wide Solution,, Drainage Systems