Identified problems :
– When heavy rains, too much water goes to sewage plants, therefore the water getting out of them is still polluted and goes to the sea and pollutes bathing water.
– Therefore, it is necessary to buffer rainwater as much as possible before it runs to the sewage plants
– The pilot site is located close to the seaside. Wind-blown sand clogs conventional drains, and Wimereux town centre has few planted areas and therefore the water is not buffered.
Site issues :
– The Foch square is in poor condition and needs to be refurbished. Wimereux is an important seaside resort and is crowded in high season therefore the actual main car park has an important role. It will be made water resilient, using a draining concrete product based on shellfish waste. This project is also contributing to the development of circular economy as it is going to use scallops shells from local scallop producers.
– The Foch square is located in a low part of the town, so it will buffer rainwater from the areas around.
– The pilot in this project will be a new square made of draining pavement, new cycle tracks and swales along the Foch street, offering more draining solutions within the city centre and a more pleasant, greener environment.
– Under the car park, an innovative underground basin will be built. It is a specific basin where water will be stored and filtered. Inside the basin, arches of 1.90 metre high enable people to maintain the basin and clear it of sand. It will create 1000m3 of new buffering capacity.
The study has been done and the town of Wimereux is now ready to start the work in September 2018. The company who will design the specific draining pavements made of recycled shells is putting in place the shell provision, shell washing, shell crushing process and will be ready as well for September. Procurement process to select the building company has been done and the process should be finished by end of June 2019. If no suitable company selection comes out of the process, we will have to do it again and this could delay the start of the work planned in September 2019.
Click on the image below to see the TV broadcast outlining the Wimereux SUDs project
TV broadcast (in French only).
