Operation Cloudburst Posters | Masters of City Design | Graduate Studio | Spring Semester | UIC

Chicago Knee Deep

Making Room for Water Resiliency in Chicago

What is cloudburst flooding?

The coming climate crisis and its impact on water

Pluvial Flooding

Fluvial Flooding

Coastal Flooding

Increased Precipitation

-10% -5%

0

+5% +10%

Atmospheric Rivers

Atmospheric Rivers are relatively long, narrow regions in the atmosphere – like rivers in the sky – that transport most of the water vapor outside of the tropics. When the atmospheric rivers make landfall, they often release this water vapor in the form of rain or snow.

2020-2039

Climate Threats 0.5- 1MILE

LARGE RUNOFF WATER VAPOR TRANSPORT

FLOOD RISK EVAPORATION

Bio

Wind

Rising Sea Levels and Blackouts

Waste

3

0 -15

+3C Solar

2

+2C

Nuclear

1

+1C

Hydro

Hot air rises

95 85 80 75 70 65 60 55 45 30 15

Gas

Hot & cold air meet and condensate

Increase in Temperature

Oil

Clouds increase in size

Cloudburst flooding is caused by sudden, substantial rainfall events that can overwhelm stormwater systems and lead to excess water pooling even in areas that are not adjacent to any bodies of water.

Coal

Cold air at high altitude

2040-2059

2080-2099

Extreme weather events that can bring about increased flood risk have been occurring with increased frequency and ferocity in recent years. This is largely due to the impacts of manmade climate change. Rising temperatures fuel the severity of storms by causing increased evaporation that sends more moisture into the air, while a warmer atmosphere provides increased energy levels that power intense storms. These storms raise the likelihood of coastal, fluvial, and pluvial flooding that can have dramatic effects on infrastructure and quality of life.

Global Deluge

Precipitation precipitating problems around the world Where is Cloudburst Flooding Happening?

The rise of tempestuous storms sweeping through cities is not localized to one area or another - it is happening around the globe. This has led to increased flooding everywhere from France and Germany in Europe to China and India in Asia to every country in-between.

55 in. | 1 hr.

Paris, France

10.8 in. | 48 hr.

SPA, Belgium

5.9 in. | 24 hr.

Rhineland Palatinate, Germany

The Great Lakes Basin

7.5 in. | 1 hr.

3.9 in. | 24 hr.

Henan, China

Vancouver, Canada

7.5 in. | 24 hr.

Hyderabad, India

Mississippi River Watershed

The City of Chicago Coastal Flooding at the Lake

Nature-based Solutions High Water Levels

Record high water levels were set on the Great Lakes in 2019 and 2020 resulting in increased flooding risks and erosion. The water levels rise as a result of warming water temperatures and increased precipitation.

Low-lying Tide Floods

Low-lying floodplains adjacent to the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River risk overflow of water that can damage property and creating dangerous conditions for residents.

Erosion

Wave Runup Flooding

Erosion occurs when waves move shore material out to deep water.

Water levels, rain, groundwater and people all affect erosion. Erosion leads to increased pollution harming local ecosystems.

Levee

This includes the restoration of wetlands, the removal of impervious surfaces along rivers, the implementation of green infrastructure, and combinations of other ecologicallysensitive solutions that mitigate flood severity, improve water quality, and the overall health of ecosystems.

The 4,000+ mile century-old system of levees along river banks is intended to hold back flood waters, however, it has largely had the opposite effect by increasing water levels and flow speeds. The loss of just 1% of wetland cover caused by levee construction can increase total flood volume by as much as 7%.

High water and strong winds can drive waves onshore, breaking over cliffs and bluffs. This can cause significant beach erosion and structural damage.

warming powerful vulnerable

Urban Flooding

The Great Lakes Region suffers from the accumualtion of floodwaters when the inflow of stormwater exceeds the drainage system.

vast vital engineered

Drainage Issues

Much of the land adjacent to river basin waterways is used for agricultural purposes accounting for more than 40% of national production. This has led to increased contamination of waters as flooding both takes chemicals and fertilizers from the soil and is also fueled in volume by toxic waters received from agricultural tiling, damaging ecosystems and worsening flood fallout

Fluvial Flooding at the River

Pluvial Flooding in the City

Weather Whiplash

Volatility in climate patterns leads to the phenomenon of ‘weather whiplash’ wherein extreme weather events shift between two opposing weather conditions and back again, much like a pendulum

Cities that Soak

Preparing to absorb the next generation of floods Copenhagen Cloduburst Streets

Copenhagen’s cloudburst plan intends to create a holistic solution for the city. The strategies used include water sensitive design and blue-green solutions to increase the overall livability of the city. Ramboll has carried out an extensive hydrological assesment of the whole city to identify the effects of infiltration on the groundwater table.

Cloudburst street planning creates robust solutions that drain the low-lying areas.

Wuhan Sponge City

Wuhan’s sponge city model is a new urban construction model for flood management, strengthening ecological infrastructure and drainage systems, proposed by Chinese researchers in early 2000.It can alleviate urban flooding, water resources shortage, and the urban heat island effect and improve the ecological environment and biodiversity by absorbing and capturing rain water and utilizing it to reduce floods. Rain water harvested can be repurposed for irrigation and for home use.

Rainwater Garden Forest Wetland

Green Roof Bioretention Facility Transparent Ground Surface

Netherlands Flood Management

Flood Defense: Flood protection structures were constructed after the North sea flood in 1953.The infracture was built within and around the Rhine, Meuse, and Scheldt.

Technology focus: In the traditional dutch water management, threats of flooding were combated by building dike reinforcements and polders. Room for water: Netherlands moved to incorporate safety into everyday land use by giving water room, making space available in flood plains and towns so that water can be stored.

Dikes

Polder & Reclaimed Land Rainwater Recycling

Mild rain

Green buildings

Micro System(Building System)

Cloudburst Road

Holistic Design

Medium System(Community System)

Detention street Wetland park

Cloudburst pipe Central retention area Macro System(Urban System)

Chicago Stormwater System?

When it comes to stormwater management and cloudburst flooding, Chicago is not adequately prepared for the coming crisis.

The Tunnel and Resevior Plan (TARP) was commissioned in the 1970’s at a time when climate change’s impact on weather was not understood - when it is completed in 2029, the additional stormwater capacity it provides is not likely to be enough to handle the storms it will contend with in the coming years.

Applying lessons learned from international precedents is crucial for a successful future in Chicago.

Impervious Chicago

Products of the past creating trouble for the future The Study Area: Near Southside Chicago

Landcover

Soil

Drainage

3 Grant Park 1 Urban Grid

4

62% of land is impervious 0% wetlands

Northerly Island & Museum Campus

2 Rail Yards & 78

Soil Composition

3

4b 4a

2b

1

60% of soil does not drain properly

Dominance of blue clay soil type

Freight Tunnels

Surface Parking

Green Roofs

60 miles of subterranean freight tunnels

59 acres of land is used for parking

Only 3% of roof area is vegetated

2a

1 The Urban Grid

2a

14.5%

8.7%

53.8% 10.7%

Stiff Blue Clay

16.2%

11.5%

Rail Yards 1.9%

63.1% Plastic Blue Clay

10.0%

3 Grant Park

The 78 22.5% Soft Blue Clay

27.5%

Blue Clay & Black Sand Hard Blue Clay & Sand Fill

Yellow Clay & Sand Fill

31.5% 14.1% 18.5%

40.0%

The 78

Stiff Blue Clay

Plastic Blue Clay Fill

Northerly Island 0.86%

Hard Loam Sand Soft Blue Clay Hard Clay Gravel Mix Fill

4b

9.7%

42.9%

27.1%

Museum Campus

Silty Clay

6.5%

8.2%

Blue Clay

Silty Clay & Gravel Mix Sand Fill

Sand Concrete & Brick

14.6%

Hard Clay, Sandy Silt & Broken Limestone 28.6%

Dirty Fill & Cinders Compact Silt 58.3%

Grant Park

Black Dirt Yellow Clay & Sand

22.5%

17.7%

Black Dirt

Rail Yards

4a

5.6%

10.5%

Stiff Blue Clay

Medium Stiff Blue Clay Sand Open Area (Catch Basin)

2b

Soft Blue Clay Hard Blue Clay & Sand Blue Clay & Black Sand Fill

Fill Gravel Mix Sand Soft Blue Clay Hard Clay Hard Loam

Lake Michigan

Chicago Bird Highway

Landing on answers for skies, grounds, and waters Chicago has been labeled one of the most dangerous cities for birds because it is the largest urban area along a major migratory route. The Chicago Bird Highway (CBH) can serve as a regional system that returns some of the land to the birds by introducing wetlands and restoring natural habitat that will offset carbon, absorb stormwater and slow warming temperatures.

Snowy Owl

5% 40% 40% of the world’s 10,000 bird species are in decline.

Chicago is home to approximately 300 bird species.

300 1B birds die each year in North America as a 1 Billion result of window strikes.

There has been a 30% reduction in bird 3 Billion numbers, roughly 3B birds, since 1970.

The Midwest is losing up to 5% of migratory bird species every year as a result of human interference.

Blackpoll Warbler

Mississippi Flyway

Bay-breasted Warbler

Chicago White Throated Sparrow

CBH Potential Intervention Sites

Select Species Snowy Owl

Greater Red-winged Yellowlegs Blackbird

Bay-breasted Warbler

Scarlet Tanager

King Rail

Near Southside

South Works

Lake Calumet

White-throated Sparrow

Norhtern Shoveler

Scarlet Tanger

Greater Yellowlegs

Baltimore Oriole

King Rail

Red-winged Blackbird

Blue-winged Teal

Indigo Bunting

Great Blue Heron

Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Great Egret

Blackpoll Warbler

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Northern Shoveler Rose-breasted Grosbeak

Great Blue Heron

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

Great Egret

Indigo Bunting

Blue-winged Teal

Baltimore Oriole

Systems Thinking

Driving solutions with a holistic approach Outcome: Vision Plan

Guiding Principles

Clark Street

Rethink urban surfaces

Create hybrid models of soft & hard infrastructure to manage water flows

State Street

Preliminary Research

Walk the Study Area

Re-evaluate above & below ground infrastructure

Roosevelt

Determine Sites

16th Street

Develop a systems approach to climate change planning in Chicago

Achieve a better balance between development & ecological restoration

Improve urban health and quality of life through innovative interventions

Develop Guiding Principles

Collaborative Process

Prior to undergoing any amount of extensive design, a thorough analysis of natural and built environments was necessary. This was done in tandem with discussions that included a diverse array of professionals and incorporated intense explorations of several sites. All of this work helped to found fundamental principles that could inform fresh, fluid designs for the future.

Conceptual Sketching

There is a need to rethink all urban surfaces - considering both the ways in which they act individually, as well as the ways that they interact between one another.

That can then help to create hybrid models of soft and hard infrastructure that manages water while simultaneously re-evaluating the relationship between above and below ground infrastructure in the city. Comprehensively, these core principles could achieve a better balance between development and ecological restoration through a newly created systems approach for climate change, subsequently improving urban health and quality of life for all residents through the innovations and interventions discovered throughout the process.

Refine & Develop Scenarios

The Cup, The Straw, & The Sieve Enabling both traffic and water to flow Water Flow Directionality

Day without rain

Proposed Solution Using knowledge on topography, water pooling, water directionality, and site conditions, ideas for profound transformation were conceived. Eventually this manifested into a model termed “The Straw and The Sieve” wherein large, northsouth corridors that are largely flat and experience excessive water levels can act as ‘straws’ that suck in and retain water through green infrastructure and regrading. At the same time, east-west avenues that cross the pooling area could be modified to direct water in support of ecological areas and restored wetlands being created across a new ecotope by filtering and distributing stormwater.

Day with rain

Permeable pavement

Green belt

Flood Risk

Planter

Re-graded streets

36% of land is at an increased risk of flooding in the future

The Straw

Utilizing the information gathered in various analyses, a new network to help bind the city culturally, while simultaneously creating a cohesive urban ecosystem was developed. Restructuring, regrading, and creating new areas where water can be retained, processed, and distributed would provide profound benefits for not only the environment but would also empower the larger functionality of ecosystems.

Water Pooling

The Sieve Ridge line Retention Streets

20% of the study area experiences water pooling

Release Streets Stormwater Movement

Grant Park The Grand Filter

Toolkit Rethink Lake Shore Drive

Mesh Highways & Flyways

Status Quo

Introduce Global Gardens

Canals to Dilute and Distribute

Re-programming

Bioswales In Lieu of Metra Rails

Future of Flooding

Additional water capacity: 400 million gallons New naturalized land: 170 acres

Plan View

Rail Yards & The 78 77 is enough

Toolkit Rehabilitate Existing Historic Structures activated historic powerhouse

room for the river

Elevate Natural Systems

native plant species

Status Quo

designed for wildlife

Blend Eco-Aspiration with Recreation

recreational open space

enhanced connectivity

Preserve Heritage with Modern Ideals

Re-programming

reimagined use of underutilized bridge

Harmony of Engineering, Art, & Environment natural systems prioritized

space for art installations

Future of Flooding

Additional water capacity: 500 million gallons New naturalized land: 120 acres

Plan View

working in tandem with existing infrastructure

Museum Campus

Toolkit Preserve Lakefront - Protect Wildlife

Melding logical with ecological

soften lake edge

native plant species

Optimizing Protected Burnham Waters floating boardwalk

lakeshore trail

floating island

Retrofit Soldier Field green roof

mixed-use interior

open space

Status Quo

permeable paths

Surface Parking Conversion open space

canal connection

retention pond

Redevelop East McCormick Place mixed-use rental

green roof

canal

Re-programming

Capitalize on Fresh Canal Framework

Naturalize West McCormick Place recreational green roof

Future of Flooding

Additional water capacity: 1 billion gallons New naturalized land: 210 acres

barrier to LSD

Plan View

Chicago as an Urban Ecotope