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PHILADELPHIA, PA  –Along different sections of the I-95 reconstruction project, PennDot has teamed up with civil engineers from Temple and Villanova to help steer rainfall away from Philly’s over-taxed storm water collection system.

According to officials at Villanova, the “rain gardens” collect stormwater from the interstate and once collected it is disposed of in one of three ways. It is released back into the atmosphere through evapotranspiration, absorbed by the garden plants, or filtered through the garden bed to the ground water.

The “rain garden” built in Fishtown at Richmond and Shackamaxon Streets was meticulously planted and is now monitored by teams from Villanova, Temple and PennDOT who are using this garden to learn more, before they build 70 others just like it.