Green Infrastructure in the Town of Cicero, Illinois
Team Members Heading link
- Baihan Chen
- Chiho Cheung
- Peiyuan Jiang
- Ran Tao
Advisors: Mike Burke, PE, CFM; Stephanie Maier, EI; Dr. Joseph Schulenberg
Project Description Heading link
Flooding is the most common and expensive problem in Illinois, particularly in dense urban areas. Our project focuses on stormwater management and flood reduction in the town of Cicero through the installation of green infrastructure.
Stormwater in Cicero is collected in a combined sewer system, which drains both sanitary flow and stormwater runoff. The town experiences flooding and basement backups when the combined sewer system becomes overwhelmed after heavy rainfall. The purpose of green infrastructure is to decrease the volume of stormwater runoff entering the combined sewer system, which will lessen the burden on the sewer system. We chose a location within the town that currently produces a large amount of stormwater runoff. Drexel Elementary School was selected as the project location because it has a large amount of impervious area and in effect has a large amount of stormwater runoff.
This project will utilize the Geographic Information System (GIS) software and EPA’s National Stormwater Calculator to evaluate the effect of green infrastructure on reducing stormwater runoff. Four types of green infrastructure were evaluated, including: pervious pavement, vertical rain gardens, green alleys, and planter boxes. Based on this analysis, we will quantify the stormwater reduction benefits for the installation of these four types of green infrastructure.