Our latest Civil Engineering project in Los Angeles is on Lankershim Blvd.
The latest project involving Civil Engineering will be working on grading plans in Los Angeles for the developer, Chandler Partners. The project is called Lankershim NoHo Mixed Use, and is more specifically in North Hollywood in the NoHo Arts District 4 blocks away from the MTA Redline Subway Station. The first part of the project will be demolishing multiple buildings sitting between Fair Ave., Otsego St., and Lankershim Blvd. in Los Angeles. From there a new 5 story complex will be built. The whole property ties into those 3 streets which makes placement of the building more critical than normal. There will also be a street widening taking place.
This will be our first project in Los Angeles that uses the new LID requirements on something that is not small residential. To meet the new more strict stormwater guidelines, we will propose planter boxes to collect the stormwater. The new LID requirements want us to take an area of the roof and to build roughly 5.5% of that roof area as planter boxes in the ground. The water will collect into these planter boxes which act like a pool. The water is able to infiltrate the soil and stay on site as much as possible. If the storm is too big, these planter boxes will overflow into a pipe that will lead to the street through the curb face. The difference between a larger project in Los Angeles compared to the smaller residential is that the area of planter boxes needed is greater. This has also been changed from the previous SUSMP requirement where the area required was less. More stormwater being held on site helps with cutting down on water going into the storm drain system. This also allows more stormwater to be clarified through the planter boxes and any water eventually reaching the storm drain system is much cleaner.
Civil Engineers do not have too much to work with regarding Green Codes and LEED. But underneath almost every new project in Los Angeles Civil Engineers are quietly and almost invisibly making storm water much more clean. Most people do not know that the storm drain system leads directly to the ocean unfiltered. That is why there are blue stamps on storm drain catch basins and inlets saying do not dump dirty water into the storm drain. In the end this clean stormwater reaches the ocean and is much better for the community as our ocean water and beaches can be slightly less contaminated. Civil Engineer’s greening of new construction may not be pretty, but civil engineering is responsible for making our future a little bit brighter.
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The Regent Square project in Inglewood has been through a couple revisions since we first started working on the Apartment complex.
I decided to stop by the site today to get some pictures of the site’s progress. The site has been a demolished building for some time. Seeing that building is up and the contractors are starting the fine grading is great to see. We had some calls recently to double check the specs of the infiltration system we designed. One reason I really like working with Chandler Partners is that everyone works together, especially asking questions to check everyones’ work.
The site was first rough graded using our excavation plan. The excavation was able to be done without shoring. We used a 1:1 cut slope to dig out the underground parking. In some places we used a maximum 5′ vertical cut as the building was pretty close to property boundaries and buildings. After the site was rough graded to the excavation plan the building went up.
Currently the surrounding dirt facing the property lines is rough graded, as the contractor is beginning to install the infiltration system. The infiltration system consists of stormwater running over grass, then going to a series of catch basins and then flowing into a 36″ Perforated PVC pipe that can infiltrate into the ground. If the 36″ Perforated PVC pipe fills up then there is an overflow built in that will gravity flow the water into the street. One of the city requirements was to direct as much stormwater into Florence, as Regent Street was already flooding. We decided to bring all of the roof water into this same system to try to manage as much water onto Florence as possible. Smaller storms will contain almost the entire storm on site.
Once the infiltration system is in place the contractors can finish up with the fine grading and new driveway entrances. This project is another fine piece of Civil Engineering work to better the community.
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I was in Irvine and decided to drive over to one of our job sites in Orange County. I was surprised to see this grading project, the Ferrari and Maserati of Newport Beach service center open for business.
What a pleasant surprise to see the building completed, parking lot regraded, and all the drainage devices in place. But really I was like a kid in the candy shop when I spotted the cars parked inside. This project has been one of my most favorite projects I have worked on in my career, as I went into engineering purely based on looking at the Acura NSX while in school. As I started college at UC Irvine, I would always see Ferraris and Lamborghinis driving around the campus area. From that point on I have been a fan of Formula1, racing, and cars in general. This project was something special, almost bringing a tear to my eye. The Architect was great to work with and he also designs the interior spaces for a lot of the exotic car shops in Southern California. Go figure that myself, my partner and he all went to High School together. I think most people can appreciate fine Italian Exotic cars, and I know all of us were excited to work together on this site.
So what did we do on this project? We had the chance to regrade the parking lot. But not just any regrade, we needed to keep as much of the existing as possible to make this site cost efficient; a typical requirement on every Civil Engineering project that we take on. I also try to design based on low cars driving around and this would be my chance where this would make even more sense than usual. We kept the drainage pattern nearly the same. Though we did have to adjust portions to make the ADA walkways and ADA parking stalls to have the maximum 2% in all directions. That was very difficult to work out between the front door to the ADA walkway going to the sidewalk. Once the walkway worked with the parking stalls we added a new curb and gutter to the side of the driveway fronting the street. That curb and gutter would lead to a catch basin that would flow about half of the site through pipes outletting into the street’s storm drain system.
On the front of the property we removed some of the existing swales to keep the ADA paths as smooth as possible. I would have preferred to completely remove all of the swales in the way of parking cars, but we were able to minimize the brutal existing drainage layout. Brutal as in driving a cushy car over the existing swales would make the car hop up and down. Now its possible to get into a parking spot without going over one of those swales. The other driveway entrance was regraded to smooth everything out. We decided to use the existing downspouts and have them outlet directly onto the driveways. No need to have some complicated system to drain under the parking lot, like we would design for an area with purely pedestrian traffic.
Onto the back of the property a ramp was created as one of the existing loading docks would not be used. There would also be a proposed wash off area that needed to separate the stormwater from the dirty water. This can sometimes be tricky as stormwater is not allowed to enter the sewer system, and dirty water isn’t allowed to enter the storm drain system. Not to mention that this loading dock area had some really crazy grades to make a truck able to back in. So we tied into the flattest parts of the back driveway and regraded to flatten the pad out. Another issue that popped up was an existing pump that took out all of the stormwater out of the low points. This grate on top of the pump became our tie in elevation. After tying everything together we needed a way to separate the areas of the water. So we created a minimal swale between the parking and wash area. The end result was executed perfectly. I got a chance to see the swale in action. The wash area goes into a trench drain, then into a clarifier that cleans out the junk as much as possible and then goes into the sewer system.
After seeing the completed project I am very happy to see everything built to our design. I got to quickly walk through the building and know I had the biggest smile on my face during this unexpected site visit. Thank you to the service manager for letting me walk through the building instead of around to take pictures. The inside is spotless.
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The tallest building anywhere is an engineering feat, especially for Civil Engineers and Structural Engineers.
The latest building, The Wilshire Grand Hotel, to be unveiled is by the developer, Korean Air. The $1 Billion project in Downtown Los Angeles has been on the drawing board for the last few years. And recently the final renderings have been released to the public. And what a beauty this building is. At 73 stories tall, the Wilshire Grand Hotel will stand taller than the current tallest building West of Chicago 72 story US Bank building.
The site is located at Wilshire Blvd and Figueroa Street. The completion date is set for 2017 with demolition already started on the 1950′s era Wilshire Grand. The most interesting idea about this building is that the check-in lobby will be located on floor 70. I can only imagine the excitement as you enter the building and get whisked away to the top to start your stay. A 71st floor restaurant will add to the amazing views of Los Angeles while you eat. Not only has Downtown Los Angeles development gotten off to a great start this year, but the engineering involved will surely be a technical feat. I am very excited to see the excavation and grading work.
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Going green is becoming more than just some key phrase that people want to use to sound socially responsible.
A recent engineering research project by the Structural Technology Group at the University of Barcelona developed a biological concrete that supports the growth of organisms, with the intention being to construct buildings with significant environmental advantages. Read more: Intelligent Buildings, The Next Generation.
With recent advancements in technology, engineers are using new techniques to make buildings cleaner and more useful. A building’s environment will be setup to better respond to a person’s needs. This could mean allowing the use of personalizing a worker’s space to be temperature controlled to their liking. Cutting down costs as an office generally runs at whatever temperature someone else sets the space at. Different times of the day could increase or decrease the lighting as well. This would give an overall more efficient work environment, in turn making the worker happier while producing more. These technological advancement are not only setup to streamline the interior building environment, but also help maintain and run more efficiently on the outside.
Research engineers are coming up with ways to manipulate concrete. One way is by using self cleaning concrete on areas that are heavily trafficked. Not only will the space look clean, but harsh chemicals and wasteful cleaning will become a thing of the past. The concrete can also be used to grow edible mass on. Just think one day we will be able to eat directly off of a wall. This concrete would not only be useful as a function for daily human consumption, but the concrete can also be used to look more appealing. As engineers continue to push technology, going green will be something that is highly visible in our everyday lives.
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Its great to read that the decaying infrastructure in the Country is being addressed by engineers whether the media outlets report on this or not.
“Mounting pressures to cut public spending, has much needed maintenance and rehabilitation put on hold. Meanwhile, US infrastructure continues to decay. The planning, design, construction, operations, maintenance, upgrading, and rehabilitation of infrastructure has become split among the private sector and public agencies .” from the post Demand For Engineers Increases: Infrastructure Asset Management & Sustainability.
As the countries important infrastructure continues to decay, I am sure everyone is thinking, why is no one fixing anything? The easy answer to that, is that the cost to rehabilitate along with the current cuts in public spending creates a problem. Such a common dilemma for engineers, we want to make everything as best as possible for the greater population to use and enjoy, but the bean counters want everything as cheap as possible. Is there some type of median that makes everyone happy?
Not only this but when the government or local agency does get the funds, that agency will not just fix what is broken. That governing body will improve everything in their path. To the casual observer this could appear as another mind boggling big government grab for money. I have no doubt that there is quite a bit of waste at this level with all of the rules and regulations to design and build anything with today’s codes and voting, and everything else that makes the country run. But in the end every single project that I see that is improving and upgrading to make the infrastructure prepared for the future.
When I see major Public Works projects that rehab completely destroyed streets I become so happy that not only will this street finally be smooth to drive on once again, but I also know that everything underneath that no one pays attention to will continue to function like the original engineered designs intended. Next time you drive down a major artery think of all the sewer lines, water lines, storm drain lines, fiber optic runs, copper runs, gas runs, electrical runs, and everything else that the general public uses that is covered by something so simple like a street. As an engineer, I am fascinated that the infrastructure still continues to work well outside of the intended lifespan.
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After going back and forth with the Architect on one of our jobs in the Hollywood Hills, it was well worth it. The site is getting a nice remodel done and the drainage was a big question on how to get the stormwater out without digging up the steep hillside lot overlooking Sunset Blvd.
The back and forth involved the Architect’s and my interpretation of how we would design the retaining walls that would create a larger backyard and patio area. In the end we sat down together and roughed out a really good solution to all of the issues over a few hours of coffee. Not only did were we able to dig up as little of the lot as possible but the stormwater should have a much better path down the steep hillside. Erosion over time should be improved, which is one of the most important parts in grading a lot.
We also were dealing with the new LID requirements at LA City Building and Safety. These new LID regulations came into effect a few months ago. These are so recent that the multiple servers hosting their website were still showing the old standards when randomly browsing the page. Why do I bring this up? The LID requirements take the place of the SUSMP requirements on certain types of projects. Not only that but LID is what the city has been trying to switch to over the last few years. Up until the change there was always a bit of will the city approve this design or not. With the current changes, the city can take a quick glance at the plans to make sure the LID requirements are in place and can approve them very quickly. This to me takes out a lot of the fumbling around in the past when visiting the stormwater section. I think this is a win-win situation for the Civil Engineers, Architects and Project Developer.
In a nutshell we brought our set of grading plans down to Building and Safety and had the project approved in one submittal. Nothing makes me more happy than having a grading plan designed in the client’s timeframe and having the City give their blessing on the first go around.
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I got the call today and it looks like our project in Sun Valley is finishing up.
After the rain they plan to stripe the parking lot. I am excited to visit the job site as there is a nice big infiltration unit under the parking that will be infiltrating the 3/4″ storm underneath the parking lot, before the stormwater overflows into the street. The infiltration has been designed to use a series of Atlantis Raintanks that have been placed into an excavated section of the newly created parking lot. There will be large catering trucks parking on half of the lot. The entire site has been designed to completely sheet flow the stormwater off of the property in case any trenchh drains or catch basins clog after the tanks fill up completely.
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ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) ramps are one of those necessary designs for new projects that sometimes make a new project that much more complicated to work.
These ADA ramps are meant for those who are disabled for easier access to their destination. ADA requirements are meant to help those in need and are important for those who would have trouble getting around. Design wise anything ADA related can be very tricky to work properly with every other requirement. For a Civil Engineering grading plan, we concentrate on how easy it is to walk around a project, drive around that project, and most importantly how stormwater is handled. We are given a siteplan most of the time with rough elevations that an Architect has come up with and must design to the exact existing topography to have a real world working project. We recently went back and forth on a current project with an Architect on how to handle a parking area. We came up with a 6″ curb in front of the building that would turn into a 0″ Curb Face as we transitioned the driveway slope down to street level. This design turned out to be more complicated.
As I keep walking to supermarkets and other larger box stores that have these huge slopes at random places because not enough thought was put into grading the parking lot. Not only do these parking lots look strange, but anything other than an SUV you can hear the suspension creaking on the funny grade breaks. A large part of some of these parking lots deep drops are caused by the design of ADA ramps at the parking stalls.
I took a couple of pictures while at some local stores to give an idea of how a properly designed ADA ramp looks. What I didn’t take pictures of are the very hard to drive parking lots, that are not striped with the steep grades or oddly placed speedbumps in mind. That is for another blog post.
Next time you drive around and park at your favorite store pay attention to the ADA spots as those have generally had the most design thought put into the grading plans. These spots tie the building pad elevation to the street in such a way that they can be considered a proof on how to properly design a development. You must be no more than 2% sloped in all directions in these ADA areas otherwise your building to parking lot to street connection will either not work or be very oddly warped.
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Downtown Los Angeles always has great looking buildings as the sun goes down. A shot of the 777 Tower from Flower St.
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