Many beloved and valuable historic places are facing a resiliency crisis brought on by overbuilding impervious surfaces, outdated sewage systems, and obstructed drainage paths. Where rainfall events are becoming more severe and frequent due to climate change, historic districts face the threat of substantial damage to businesses, residents, and visitors. The historic Westport district in Kansas City, Missouri, is one of those places, and conventional studies by engineers over the years have resulted in unfeasible and unaffordable recommendations.
The Westport Stormwater Design Project is a first-of-its-kind, progressive, design-build project that takes a new approach to urban stormwater management for the region. First, it utilizes real rainfall data and innovative modeling technology to test design alternatives that are both cost-effective and sustainable. Second, a team comprised of urban designers, landscape architects, and engineers has supported a design-based process for leveraging infrastructure improvements for the district’s placemaking and urban design goals.
Discover the importance of innovation, design-oriented thinking, and holistic environmental approaches in engineering solutions to sustain and enhance beloved urban places.
Learning Objectives:
Understand the benefits of taking an integrated design approach to stormwater engineering projects, and how this results in more holistic outcomes that support placemaking, multimobility, and economic development.
Pursue incremental and innovative urban stormwater solutions that are feasible to construct where funding capacity is limited.
Seek alternatives for identifying stormwater interventions, using data from recent rainfall events and applying innovative modeling technologies to test alternatives.
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