River Island

Mike Faha recently toured our project at River Island. Situated along the Clackamas River near Barton County Park, River Island is 240 acres of natural area that provides habitat for native species including endangered salmon and steelhead, native turtles and migratory birds. The main portion of the site in the middle of the river was a gravel mining operation until the 1996 flood, which greatly altered the natural area's landscape by breaching man-made levees and shortened the main channel of the Clackamas River. GreenWorks and Inter-Fluve have been working with Metro to help create a vision and concepts for restoring natural channel processes and supporting multiple values including fish and wildlife habitat, riparian and upland forests, water quality and recreation. GreenWorks assisted with public outreach and prepared presentation materials to easily convey complex engineering concepts into understandable, photo realistic graphics that help the public and stakeholders understand the opportunities and what the site could look like once it is restored. Conceptual design alternatives were created for restoration of riparian-forested wetlands at the gravel mine site as well as design and restoration of Goose Creek, reconnecting it to the Clackamas River mainstem for cool water rearing habitat for juvenile salmonids. Inter-Fluve developed a site conservation plan and permit-level designs. This project is one of the biggest restoration projects in the Pacific Northwest.

GreenWorks would like to acknowledge Metro Project Manager Brian Vaughn as well as project lead Inter-Fluve, and members of their team: Emily Alcott, Lon Mikkelsen, Mike McAllister, Mike Brunfelt, Caitlin Alcott, Matt Cox, Colin MacLaren, Rich Phaneuf, and Mackenzie Baxter.

What is a Log Dog?

We hear this a lot in reference to the art feature of the Clay Street Green Street project in Portland’s Central Eastside Industrial District (CEID). The Log Dog sculptures incorporated into the Clay Street swales reference and celebrate the district’s industrial past. In the 19th Century, the lumber industry used the Willamette River as a conduit for transporting logs to the lumber mills established along the banks of the river. Logs were tied together into rafts and piloted down the Willamette in massive convoys. These log rafts where chained together by cable that ran through attachments known as log dogs. The historic log dogs were like thick needles, driven into the floating logs before a cable was pulled through the eye and cinched to bundle them together, creating a raft. GreenWorks designed the streetscape for a 12-block section of SE Clay Street. Working with KPFF and artist, Linda M. Wysong, the green street provides a pedestrian friendly corridor from the Ladd’s Addition neighborhood to the Eastbank Esplanade, strengthening connectivity and improving the pedestrian realm. The green street honors the industrial district’s history through the art installations and interpretive elements. GreenWorks has contributed to the redevelopment of Portland’s Central Eastside Industrial District (CEID) over the last decade through improvements to the Clay Street Right of Way / RiverEast pedestrian plaza and most recently with Clay Street Green Street. The completed project provides sustainable environmental benefits, including vegetated stormwater management, pedestrian and bicycle passage, and strategies that maintain freight movement and business activities throughout the CEID.

The project’s artist describes the inspiration on the Clay Street Log Dog: “The Wetlands were filled, the mill erected and a city built. The land is transformed as the water continues to flow. It may seep into the earth or be hidden by stone and concrete, but it continues to connect, sustain and give form to our lives. Honor and protect the river.” Linda M. Wysong, artist

Green Innovations from Portland BES

Portland Bureau of Environmental Services has created a video about green innovations within the city. You can check out the video on their website or below.

Zidell Yards Recognized at 2014 ASLA Annual Conference

Mike Faha of GreenWorks  and  former GreenWorker David Elkin attended the ASLA Annual Conference where they received the National Honor Award for the Zidell Green Infrastructure Scenarios project.

The Zidell Yards Green Infrastructure Scenarios present a unique opportunity to develop on brownfield sites without causing harm to the environment. To read more about what is planned for this site, check out today's story in the DJC here.

Mirror Pond, Celilo Falls and Centennial Mills in the news

Recently, a few of GreenWorks' projects have been in the press. In early November, The Bend Bulletin published the preferred graphics for Mirror Pond. Check out the article to see what GreenWorks and Inter-Fluve have planned for the iconic site in Bend, Oregon. You can also view the graphics below.

The DJC also published two articles regarding Celilo Falls and Centennial Mills, projects that GreenWorks has been working on for some time. You can read them here and here.

Pringle Creek is a "Diamond for Sustainability"

Check out this recent article by Margaret Buranen at Stormwater: The Journal for Surface Water Quality Professionals about green infrastructure in stormwater management, featuring a recent GreenWorks project in Salem, OR! Pringle Creek Community is one of Oregon’s most low-impact residential developments, and as the first sustainable housing and mixed-use project spanning 32 acres of a total 250 scheduled for development, Pringle Creek is pioneering green initiatives in southeast Salem.

Pringle Creek is, according to the Community’s general manager Jane Poznar, “a diamond for sustainability” with its 7,000 feet of green streets, 2,000 feet of green alleys, and a newly ‘salmon safe’ creek (from which the community gets its name). Regarding stormwater, Buranen notes that Pringle Creek Community is also home to “one of the largest pervious asphalt street systems in the United States,” handling 90% of runoff onsite.

GreenWorks was responsible for collaboration on the design of the Community’s green streets and rain gardens, pedestrian pathways and greenway enhancement, woonerfs and public recreational spaces, overall landscape treatment and the Village Green open space.

The project was awarded the Land Development of the Year Award in 2007 from the National Home Builder's Association.

GreenWorks teams up with the Trail Blazers!

Check out this article by Sustainable Business Oregon editor Andy Giegerich announcing upcoming updates to the Portland Trail Blazers’ Moda Center exterior, a project headed by GreenWorks!

We have been working with the Trail Blazers Senior Director of Sustainability, Justin Zeulner, to both beautify the Center’s landscaping with native and drought-resistant plants and replenish the grounds with healthier soils and stormwater facilities, which will “reduce the [site's] landscaping water use by 20-30%” among other progressive initiatives. This work represents what Justin noted as “the first phase of sustainable projects around the arena,” and will further the Trail Blazers’ efforts for sustainability in keeping with their ideals.

Located in the Lloyd Center District, Portland’s first EcoDistrict, the Moda Center earned LEED Gold status in 2010 because of measures that reduced greenhouse gas emissions, energy usage, non-organic and non-local food sourcing, and landfill use, but they’re not stopping there.  As Justin suggests, “Every little bit helps.”

The new landscaping designs will become a reality after demolitions in the spring. Click here for more information on the Blazers’ conservation efforts.

Lake Oswego 2nd Street Project Completion

Our 2nd Street project in the heart of downtown Lake Oswego has come to an end, and we wanted to show a few photos of the finished product. With the slight narrowing of the curb to curb width of the street, the City transformed the street into a beautiful modern streetscape within the core of the downtown business district. Widened sidewalks, street lights, benches, driveways, street trees, and unique stormwater planters were all delicately knitted together by the design team to deliver a streetscape project that will benefit the surrounding business community while protecting the urban watershed. This project included a number of significant design elements such as:

1. Lined stormwater planters and curb extensions that will manage approximately 1,000,000 gallons of urban runoff while protecting adjacent commercial basements
2. Structural soil tree wells that extend under sidewalk to provide and additional 10 cubic yards of additional root space per tree.
3. Efficient inlet design to ensure stormwater capture on a steep street
4. Unique low fencing around facilities patterned after fencing at City's Millennium Park Plaza

We were privileged to be part of an incredible team that included City of Lake Oswego staff, Kittelson and Associates, and 3J Consulting.

Metro Natural Areas Levy Passed!

On Tuesday, Metro region voters approved a property tax levy to pay for parks and natural areas funding. The tax will provide Metro with approximately $10 million a year for maintenance and restoration at its properties. Read the full article here. GreenWorks is pleased that the region has spoken in favor of funding parks and natural areas. As landscape architects we support this movement to protect the area’s vibrant network of outdoor destinations and protected land. As volunteers and consultants we’ve collaborated with Metro for many years and look forward to working together on future projects that safeguard our parks and natural areas for future generations.