According to the company, the Ellinikon project is being developed based on a comprehensive project of a series of flood protection projects with absolute respect to the environment and citizens' living.
The project combines Greek innovation with scientific and technical research. With the application of modern statistical, hydrological and hydraulic models, and in combination with the pioneering research and the knowledge and experience of Greek engineers and researchers, the flood protection infrastructure is tested and their ability to cope with extreme events is evaluated for the first time in our country.
More specifically, according to Lamda, two important streams flow through the metropolitan park, the green landmark of the Ellinikon, the Trachonon stream and the Airport stream, or Evryalis, as it was formerly known. These streams, which have strong flows only when it rains, were suffocatingly limited, due to the needs and narrow limits of the former airport, but also due to the extensive urban development on the outskirts of Hymettus, for decates.
Based on the integrated plan of Lamda Development for the Ellinikon as a whole, as well as on the large project of the Metropolitan Park, these streams are demarcated and liberated again. They are shielded with the use of mild and environmentally friendly materials, that protect them from the forces of corrosion. Their endurance is strengthened, but at the same time their natural function is restored. In this way the reception of rainwater from areas outside the Park is controlled, while older interventions are integrated and harmoniously combined with new ones, offering the necessary additional security. At the same time, water quality is protected and potential solid pollutants are prevented, as inputs are controlled and appropriate environmental management and monitoring provisions are provided.
Lamda's design envisages the promotion of their aquatic, natural function in a way that ensures the necessary space for their natural relaxation, as well as the enrichment with provisions for the possibility of growth of riparian and torrential natural vegetation. The zones of the streams become areas of recreation and harmonious coexistence with the urban and suburban environment of the park. But flood protection is not limited to streams. The plan of the Park includes complete devices for the control of rainwater runoff on all surfaces, with a view to their functional, harmonious and sustainable integration into the project.
A complex underground collection system project and safe disposal protects the daily activities on the surface, applying modern techniques of sustainable rainwater management (Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems) in urban areas. On its way to the water collection system, the water is filtered through the extensive permeable surfaces of the park, delaying its outflow to the streams and the sea and offering natural protection.
Along the old runway, a long natural project of collecting and directing water to its recipients is planned, ending up in an artificial water body to contain the flood, before finally reaching the Trachonon stream. But for all the water that reaches the other surfaces, such as roads, roofs and sidewalks, natural basins provide another means of collecting and holding it.
Statistics / Analysis / Forecast
The importance to the environment and the flood protection that Lamda gives, however, it does not stop here as the goal for the Ellinikon is to be many steps ahead. Groups of highly specialized executives, expert experts, collaborators from Greece and abroad discuss, analyze, evaluate the infrastructure, proceed to data analysis to deal with extreme conditions.
Among the collaborators of Lamda Development in the field of studies are the design companies LDK, TEKEM, Hydroment as well as the Hydroexigiantiki in the storm risk assessment.
Crisis management, infrastructure resilience tests and answers to a series of questions are the daily routine of Lamda executives, who are responsible for the huge works of flood protection and safety. What will happen if phenomena of particular intensity occur? What can we expect from storms that we may now consider unlikely? How does the risk of flooding change in relation to climate change trends? How do we prepare for climate change? These and many more questions are daily posed and answered by the executives of Lamda, in order to protect the environment, to shield this great investment, to create a protection umbrella for the citizens.
For the following model in Lamda based on statistics and forecast, competent executives of the listed company report:
"We thoroughly analyze the risk of flooding, allowing us to identify weaknesses, optimize our choices and understand the behavior of our projects under a wide range of possible but extreme conditions. Through the creation of a hypothetical sample of rains over many thousands of years that are statistically likely to occur, a total of 1000 characteristic storms are selected, and their runoff is modeled on all surfaces of the Trachonas and Evryali streams, as well as the park. A thousand rain "test" thoroughly the system of the new works of the park and the entrances of the old works outside it, meaning all the effluents from the slopes of Hymettus that end in it. Every element of the project, pipe, collection point, estuary point, is checked and tested again and again. A powerful stress test that, exhausting the range from the ordinary to the improbable, quantifies and confirms the resilience of our projects and ensures the protection of the activities of the Park ".
