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

Cascade Avenue Under Construction in Sisters, Oregon

Construction of the Sisters Cascade Avenue (US 20) streetscape project is making progress. This project will increase walkability downtown while expressing the identity of Sisters.

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.

SE Clay Green Street Project

Construction has begun on the SE Clay Street Green Street project! The Green Street spans from SE 2nd Avenue to SE 12th Avenue in Portland’s Central East-Side Industrial District. When completed, it will better connect pedestrians and bicyclists from east-side neighborhoods with the RiverEast Center Plaza (also a GreenWorks project) all the way to Portland’s popular Eastbank Esplanade. The redone renovated? revitalized? street will include storm water curb extensions, storm water planters with railroad rail check dams, and installations from local artist Linda Wysong. Custom seating will be incorporated into the storm water planter walls along the sidewalk edge, giving the corridor a more inviting, pedestrian-oriented feel.

From the beginning, this project posed planning challenges to all parties involved. Integrating stormwater management as well as pedestrian, bicycling and car travel with the project’s industrial freight access requirements resulted in unique designs for storm water curb extensions that respond to the larger turning radii required by some trucks that use the industrial district.

If you’d like to learn more about the SE Clay St Green Street project, click here!

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.

Highway 213 Bridge Completed

Following a successful rapid bridge construction that required a multiday road closure, ODOT officials announced the reopening of Highway Oregon 213 in Oregon City at the I-205 interchange on Monday night, ahead of schedule.  The “Jughandle Project” will relieve traffic backups and improve safety at the busiest signalized intersection in the state by eliminating left turns, adding a new alignment for Washington Street, and replacing a 130 foot-long section of the 6-lane bridge. Click here to view a brief time lapse video of the rapid bridge construction – amazing stuff!

GreenWorks developed a planting and irrigation design as part of the project, including a rehabilitated gateway landscape into Oregon City, new green streets designed to accept and treat stormwater, and a 7+ acre mitigation site planted with thousands of native trees and shrubs. Click here to view the plans and drawings.

SE Clay Street Green Street Open House

Join GreenWorks and the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services at Indent Studios for an Open House discussing SE Clay Street Green Street this Thursday the 13^th from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. The Open House will present the latest information on the project and answer questions about the community impact of the new green street. GreenWorks worked with the Portland Bureau of Environmental Services on the streetscape design for 12 block section ofSE Clay Street in the Central Eastside Industrial District (CEID). The new green street will provide a pedestrian friendly corridor from Ladd’s Addition to the Eastbank Esplanade.

We hope to see you there!

For more information visit:

http://www.portlandonline.com/bes/index.cfm?c=47012&a=367456

Green Streets in Tucson, AZ

The Watershed Management Group (WMG) out of Tucson, AZ has been promoting the installation of green street facilities in the SW region for rainwater harvesting.  In August of 2010, WMG put together a comprehensive document called Green Infrastructure for Southwestern Neighborhoods that describes and illustrates the benefits and installation techniques for green street projects.  Recently they produced a video showing the real world application of their green street designs.  WMG describes the video as...

This short (5 minute) video explains the benefits of using green infrastructure and how WMG advocates and implements these practices through educational workshops.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyGC6KSi74&feature=playerembedded]

Kudos to WMG for implementing these projects and teaching neighbors about the benefits of green street facilities.

City of Damascus Completes Construction of First Green Street

The construction of the first green street in the center of the City of Damascus on Anderson Road was completed in September. This accomplishment was celebrated recently with a ribbon cutting ceremony, attended by City staff and Councilors, construction contractors (S-2 Contractors, Ashland Brothers Landscapes), the design team (GreenWorks and CH2MHILL) and area residents. The Anderson Road project, 600 feet in length, serves as a pilot project for green public infrastructure development for the City of Damascus. The City hopes to learn from this project as it moves forward with its goal to implement sustainable low impact development practices. All stormwater that falls within the right-of-way is captured, infiltrated and treated on site in stormwater planters, a stormwater swale, pervious asphalt and permeable sidewalk pavers.

Oregon City Green Street Construction Nearing Completion

As part of the realignment of Warner-Milne Road at the Molalla Avenue intersection, the City of Oregon City hired a team with GreenWorks to design a rain garden in a vacated portion of the right-of-way that will treat stormwater runoff from the adjacent heavily-travelled roadways. A series of large serpentine Corten steel fins meander through the site, articulating the stormwater channel and creating a striking contrast to the lush rain garden plantings. The first of its kind in Oregon, this rain garden incorporates prominent sculptural elements that highlight the City's committment to sustainability.

The project also consists of various streetscape improvements including new street trees, decorative tree and trench grating, and permeable concrete sidewalks.