$10,000 Green Infrastructure Overpass Contest

The Tellier Prize | Greater Milwaukee Green Infrastructure Overpass Challenge

Problem Statement

Changing weather patterns have resulted in a shorter duration, higher intensity storms.  In fact, the Midwest is experiencing the wettest period on record, and Milwaukee data shows the four highest annual rainfall amounts ever recorded occurred in the last twenty years. The 2010s decade was 8 inches of rainfall per year wetter than the 1940s decade. A warmer and wetter future is expected. Coupled with paved landscapes in our urban settings, these storms result in more urban runoff.  In the Milwaukee region, this translates into more unanticipated water entering the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District’s system. 

Challenge

The Tellier Foundation is sponsoring a local competition to identify new, innovative approaches to slow down and retain these peak runoff events. Our current infrastructure, as originally designed, may not be capable of meeting the higher volumes of stormwater. We will need fresh ideas on retrofitting and adapting to meet this increase. The Greater Milwaukee Green Infrastructure Overpass Challenge is focused on reducing and treating runoff from interstate overpasses.  It will be assumed that the roadway drainage area is 50 feet wide by 200 feet long and is 100 feet above the urban landscape. The stormwater management or green infrastructure approaches should capture a two-inch rain event.

Winning proposals will identify innovative ideas to maximize the capture of runoff from the overpass area and strive to attain other triple bottom line benefits. A successful submittal will suggest a resilient solution that can be incorporated into the overlooked green space under freeways. The vertical height of the stormwater system should be treated as an opportunity for both runoff reduction and treatment. The solution should be capable of being replicated throughout the freeway system and should consider stormwater as a resource.

The Challenge is open to any project team with an interest in innovated stormwater management and green infrastructure. Interdisciplinary teams comprised of various focus areas such as water resources, land use planning, ecology, and/or transportation are encouraged. Each project team will develop 2 or 3 alternatives described in a memo, then further define a recommended plan which would include conceptual design drawing or visual, a preliminary estimate of construction cost, a construction schedule, a description of constructability issues, and a long-term maintenance plan memo.  Award selection will be based on innovation, sustainability, and quality of the submittal.