Recently we had the pleasure of working with a local team who designed and constructed a bioswale next to the San Marco Library. The bioswale was designed to replace the existing large and diseased live oaks with Florida native trees, shrubs and grasses in a manner to provide stormwater treatment, landscape beauty, habitat value and more. If you are are not familiar with a bioswale, here is a brief definition:

Bioswales are landscape elements designed to remove silt and pollution from surface runoff water. They consist of a swaled drainage course with gently sloped sides (less than six percent) and filled with vegetation, compost and/or riprap. The water’s flow path, along with the wide and shallow ditch, is designed to maximize the time water spends in the swale, which aids the trapping of pollutants and silt. Depending upon the geometry of land available, a bioswale may have a meandering or almost straight channel alignment. Biological factors also contribute to the breakdown of certain pollutants.

Our contribution was to do a rendering that will be installed at the site to help educate people as to what a bioswale is how the swale works. If you find yourself in the San Marco area, take a swing by and check it out. The longer it is there, the more developed it will become and will continue to clean the water while providing a natural wildlife habitat.

A special thanks to everyone involved and especially to James Orth of St. Johns River Keeper, Doug Skiles of enVision deign + engineering, and Kevin Songer of Metroverde for giving Content Design Group the opportunity to participate in this project and give back to the community.

Here is a list of all the contributors:

St. Johns Riverkeeper – http://www.stjohnsriverkeeper.org/

Coca Cola – http://www.livepositively.com/

City of Jacksonville – http://www.coj.net/

City Council Member Lori Boyer – http://loriboyer.org/

Content Design Group – You are here!

EnVision Design + Engineering ­- http://envisionplusjax.com/

Greenscape of Jacksonville – http://www.greenscapeofjacksonville.org/

Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens – http://www.jacksonvillezoo.org/index.php?//index.php

Media Works – http://www.mediaworksinc.net/

MetroVerde – http://metroverde.com/MetroVerde/home.html

PBM Constructors – http://start.cortera.com/company/research/k2j9nzs4j/pbm-constructors-inc/

Petticoat-Schmitt Contracting – http://www.manta.com/c/mtmkgx5/petticoat-contracting-inc

San Marco Preservation Society – http://smpsjax.com/

Superior Trees