The tramway is making a big comeback in Paris and in
most major cities of France as an easy means of urban transportation. But it is
no easy job to keep the grass between the rails looking green and lush.
Who can forget the sight of burnt and sooty grass along the railway?
However, those days are over, at least if it's up to ISS. The French Landscaping
department, ISS Espaces Verts, has specialized in the difficult task of making
grass grow, and above all of making it last, on a concrete platform between two
tram rails.
"First introduced on the Nantes tram network, turfing of
railway platforms to create a green flow effect is a highly popular concept
among French town planners," explains Francis Guisse, Technical Director at ISS
Espaces Verts.
Hi-tech nourishment
ISS Espaces Verts
has become one of the national specialists in turfing tram rails and has thrown
beautiful green carpets of grass along the tramways of Paris, Mulhouse,
Valenciennes, Grenoble, Le Mans and Saint-Etienne.
"The main challenge
consists of making grass grow to a maximum height of 15 centimetres and
improving its upright position, resistance and ability to absorb and retain
water," highlights Francis Guisse. "This is what led us to study and develop
ways to nourish the Paris tramway, which combine all these
qualities."
ISS Espaces Verts quickly realised that to create a green
lawn, on a concrete platform, which can resist pollution, traffic and drought,
they needed exceptional nourishment. So they prepared a special mixture of
volcanic rock, sphagnum peat, compost, river sand and vegetal soil for the
Parisian tramway. The result is that the green surface lets water through in the
case of intense rainfall and still retains enough to save on
sprinkling.
A future market
Landscape development of
tramways is an important market for ISS Espaces Verts, but they see many
opportunities beyond tramways.
"We are looking into soil that is more
resistant to drought and choosing plants that consume little water. The lawns we
develop for these projects have resistance close to asphalt, so they could
easily be used for other purposes, for instance green car parks for occasional
use alongside sports stadiums or leisure centres," concludes Francis
Guisse.