Environmental Team
Our role
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Ensure environmental sustainability in everything from material-sourcing to path functionality
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Capitalize on existing public transit infrastructure and proximity to Bankhead MARTA
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Collaborate with MARTA-ARMY on green infrastructure and resting areas1
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Consult community to optimize transit experience and maximize ridership
Mehdi Harley
Environmental Engineering Major
Kathryn Otte
Industrial Engineering Major
Grayson Eady
Electrical Engineering Major
Findings
Proposals
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Implement a comprehensive stormwater management plan including bioswales adjacent to the trail, and a permeable concrete trail surface.
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Plant native flowering trees and other deciduous perennials that will both provide new habitat for local pollinators and reduce contributions to the heat island effect in Atlanta through additional shade coverage and evapotranspiration.
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Strategically place new recycling and trash infrastructure near waste producing establishments and draft a new waste collection plan to mitigate litter along trail and surrounding natural areas.
Introduction
Grayson Eady, Mehdi Harley, and Kathryn Otte bring experience from three different engineering disciplines - electrical, environmental, and industrial - to the Environmental Team. Each of the three students is participating in the Sustainable Cities minor in addition to his or her engineering major. Combining engineering concepts with sustainability knowledge led the team to design an eco-friendly trail that not only mitigates environmental concerns related to building materials and implementation but also addresses the environmental impact of daily use after the trail is built.
Shared Use Path Design
An environmentally sustainable trail must address sustainability in all phases of its design: from sourcing of materials and construction to day-to-day functionality of the path. This means not only mitigating negative impacts and maximizing positive ones, but doing so in a way such that the community can find benefit.
Our proposal focuses on several different environmental design strategies the multi-trail can adopt to maximize positive impact.
While the addition of green infrastructure and permeable pavement may require a significant initial investment, in the long-run, these solutions will reduce the economic and environmental costs to the neighborhood and to the City of Atlanta. Atlanta historically has had issues with the combined storm-sanitary sewer overflowing during large precipitation events (Samuel, 2018). These overflows not only impose additional cost to the wastewater treatment facilities tasked with treating the water, but also a human health risk to the communities impacted. By using green infrastructure to relieve the stormwater load handled by the sewer, we can reduce daily operating costs of the receiving water treatment plant, as well as eliminate the costs of overflow cleanups without needing to fully renovate the sewer system.