Project BoRSiS – Two solutions laid with one line : Date:
With the help of innovative underground soil-pipe systems, the Ruhr West University of Applied Sciences wants to find regional solutions against the effects of climate change and at the same time improve the microclimate within a region. In this way, communities can be helped with climate adaptation strategies in the future.
What if it were possible not only to combat global climate change, but also to support regional flora and fauna at the same time? The BoRSiS project offers a single solution to these two challenges - in the form of ductile iron pipes. The floods in the Ahr Valley in the summer of 2021, as well as the dry summers in the two previous years, have shown how acutely climate change threatens people's everyday lives and how much habitats are at risk.
Experts are certain that this is only the beginning and that the consequences of climate change will become even more noticeable. Therefore, regional projects and concepts are needed that can cushion or even prevent these effects in the communities. The Ruhr West University of Applied Sciences has taken on this problem and set up a project that can both constantly improve the regional microclimate and cope with coming heat waves, droughts, and floods in the long term.
The project involves a soil-pipe system used as a storage medium for rainfall. This underground collection system offers large storage capacities and thus the best conditions for regional stormwater management. The roots of trees can grow into the line trenches of the cast iron pipes and thus access the water storage in the line trench during prolonged periods of hot weather. In addition, an innovative construction of the pipe trench made of rock wool is also being investigated. Strengthening the fauna results in an overall improved microclimate within a region - a classic win-win situation. The project, which started in October 2021 and will be funded until September 2024, aims to find a viable answer for communities that want to make a difference and pursue a necessary climate adaptation strategy.
The work is interdisciplinary, allowing the project team to include expertise from a variety of other disciplines. In addition to the Ruhr West University of Applied Sciences, the Bochum University of Applied Sciences, the Euopean Association for Ductile Iron Pipe Systems (EADIPS), the Rockflow company and the city of Detmold are also involved in the BoRSiS project.