EHRA offered its Landscape Architectural services to complete a Parks and Trails Master Plan for the District.
EHRA completed preliminary engineering, phase one environmental site assessment and schematic development for the widening of Northpark Dr. between US 59 and Woodland Hills Dr. EHRA also provided program management, drainage analysis and design, traffic engineering, environmental documentation and schematic design for the roadway, as well as grade separation at the Loop 494/UPRR railroad crossing.
EHRA conducted traffic operations and access management studies for the Northpark Dr. corridor. This corridor is approximately 2.2 miles long and has major signalized and unsignalized intersections and driveways that access various subdivisions and industrial developments. These studies laid the groundwork for the widening of Northpark Dr. from a four-lane boulevard cross-section to a six-lane boulevard complete street. The new street design includes low impact development drainage, conventional drainage, a grade separation at the UPRR crossing with mechanically stabilized earth retaining walls, two at-grade crossings for bi-directional frontage access, reconstruction of two concrete bridges over a diversion channel, intersection improvements, a roadway-adjacent multiuse path and traffic signal improvements.
Drainage analysis and design included hydrologic and hydraulic studies of both existing and proposed conditions to demonstrate that proposed project components would not adversely affect the 100-year floodplain in the area. The roadway and traffic designs contained horizontal and vertical alignments, cross-sections, plan and profile, sidewalk and bicycle accommodations, intersection layouts, traffic control plans and signing and pavement markings.
As the program management firm, EHRA coordinated with TxDOT, UPRR, the City of Houston Council District E, COH Planning and Development Department, COH Public Works and Engineering Department, Montgomery County, Harris County, HCFCD and area residents throughout the project.
EHRA planners, hydrologists and landscape architects worked together to propose an alternative use for the space, re-developing the basin into an amenity pond. EHRA carefully selected native plant materials for both their ability to survive in the harsh conditions of the basin as well as providing filtration for improved storm water quality.
The facility features an activated sludge process system. Additionally, the facility is equipped with an emergency standby diesel generator.
The new roadway design comprises of one-half major thoroughfare, conventional drainage, a 600-ft long bridge over Willow Fork Bayou, Retaining walls and intersection improvements at FM 1463 (including traffic signals and illumination).
Why fix a road today if it's slated to be ripped up for new sewers next summer? This kind of question is at the heart of research from Tarek Zayed, and Amin Hammad, professors in Concordia's Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering (BCEE), and PhD candidates Soliman A. Abu-Samra and Mahmoud Ahmed. "Better coordination at city hall is the key to less costly repairs," says Abu-Samra. "We've shown that streamlining maintenance results in huge financial and time savings." Their findings were recently published in the Journal of Construction Engineering and Management. "Canada is experiencing an enormous infrastructure deficit that was estimated at $123 billion in 2007 and is increasing by about $2 billion annually," says Abu-Samra. "Thus, there is a need for more efficient use of municipalities' budgets to enhance the level of service delivered to taxpayers." The math behind better fixes To prove to city departments that it's worth it for them to coordinate their efforts, the study created an original asset management framework with multiple objectives. It considers the physical state of infrastructures, lifecycle costs, user expenses, and replacement value. The framework uses three core models: a database model containing detailed asset inventory for road and water networks; key performance indicator (KPI) computational models for measuring the impact of intervention plans; and an optimization algorithm to schedule activities. "The algorithm simulates thousands of scenarios to reach an optimal one," says Abu-Samra. The Concordia researchers applied their system to road and water networks in Kelowna, B.C., where the results showed lifecycle costs could be cut by 33 per cent and user costs halved. Their test also showed the potential to include sewer, electricity, gas and telecom networks, provided information can be shared. "It may sound like common sense, but proactive coordination between different city departments can be difficult. They tend to work in silos, with plans and annual reports created independently," says Abu-Samra.
Source: Science Daily