Streetscapes Goes Green

Streetscapes Goes Green. . , Nearly 300 years ago the town was developed adjacent to the 250 million year old warm mineral springs. Berkeley Springs has always been about promoting and preserving clean water. Today, the town is green, committed to integrating environmental practices into its Streetscapes work and other projects., The new Streetscape sidewalk, seating and planter system works in a simple way to keep Warm Springs Run clean as it moved through the town to the Potomac River. Rain, or stormwater, soaks through the gaps in the pavers that line the sidewalk and enters into an innovative green technology buried beneath the pavers known as Silva cells. The revolutionary system is a Lego-like configuration of frames providing structural load support for the surface pavers, while promoting non-compacted soils in the planters to easily soak up rain water and encourage tree and root growth. Although they remain out of sight, keep in mind the Silva cells below the paver areas are a high functioning subsurface stormwater system; one of the first in West Virginia., [Captions:] , This circa 1915 overlook photo of the area today impacted by the Streetscape project shows an unpaved Fairfax Street to the right and cutting through the center of the photo Warm Springs Run with the Washington Street bridge crossing it. Just a few years earlier, the area adjacent to the stream and to the left of the photo was active with tannery structures that poured toxic water into the Run., In 2012 a flash flood reminded residents of the need for a robust storm water management system. The view is looking north along Washington Street.