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The following lessons can help guide a response to groundwater subsidence
in Boston:
Groundwater
is a manageable resource – Groundwater is managed in Copley Square
and has remained at safe levels since the 1930s. In the 1930, inspectors
discovered that pilings at the Boston Public Library were exposed to air
due to drops in the groundwater level. Neighboring Trinity Church
immediately began to monitor the levels of groundwater around the building.
Trinity Church also installed a recharge
system that captured rainwater from the building’s roof and channeled
it back into the ground. In the 1960’s, Copley Square installed a recharge
basin below the plaza as part of the first redesign. These efforts have
protected the landmark buildings in Copley Square from risks of
subsidence.
Groundwater
levels fluctuate greatly over small distances – Groundwater
levels vary even within Copley
Square; groundwater levels are consistently
higher at Trinity
Church than they are
100 feet away at the center of Copley
Square. This extreme localization of the
groundwater problem clearly indicates that any solution to subsidence must
deal with the problem at its source.
Money
Matters - Groundwater drops affect buildings throughout Boston; over 2000
acres in the city are susceptible to lowered groundwater levels. Most of
the non-residential buildings affected by subsidence are historically
significant buildings such as churches and civic buildings. Because of
their significance, any potential damage associated with groundwater drops
surrounding significant buildings were quickly solved for. Now, only
private property owners remain to deal with the problems of subsidence. If
the institutions and property owners banded together to force a solution,
then the political maneuverability of that team would be great.
Unfortunately, to date, the group of disparate property owners have not
been able to muster the political force to create a solution to the subsidence
problem.
Other
cities have dealt with groundwater subsidence issues - Milwaukee
has experienced similar troubles in its downtown, as have Amsterdam,
Oslo and Stockholm. However Boston’s extensive landmaking make
the scale of the subsidence problem uniquely large here.
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