DEP unveils new plan for preventing flooding on New York City streets

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The Department of Environmental Protection unveils a new plan for a specially paved road that’ll help keep rainwater from flooding the city’s streets. The new paving technique is “porous pavement” – it’s a unique design made to ensure rainwater doesn’t linger on the roads. The pavement is made of a synthetic fiber that contains holes. It’s different from asphalt and concrete and allows water to fall through and become stored in the ground. DEP Commissioner Rohi Aggarwala says the goal is to not only reduce street flooding but also limit the amount of rainwater that’s collected in the city’s sewers. "Every gallon of water that goes into the ground is one less gallon that goes into our sewer system, one less gallon that's at risk of going into somebody's basement, and one less gallon that might cause a combined sewer overflow that pollutes our water,” said Aggarwala. These roads will only be rolled out in areas where the soil is able to absorb water and there is no infrastructure underneath. "