Cape Horn Trail Pedestrian Tunnel Construction Project Complete

Construction is complete on the two pedestrian tunnels that now provide safe crossing under State Route 14, approximately twenty-six miles east of Vancouver, Washington. The Cape Horn Trail is a popular 7.5 mile trail with spectacular views of the Columbia River Gorge. GreenWorks, working with Wallis Engineering (civl engineering) and Kramer Gehlen & Associates (structural engineering), provided the design for the stone facing of the tunnel facades and planting design at the tunnels. The stone used on the project is local quarried basalt stone. The tunnel facades were designed to relate to other historic Cascadian examples of stone masonry found within the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. To quote the Washington Trails Association,‘The Cape Horn Trail is about to become one of the prized jewels of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.’

This WSDOT project, in partnership with the USDA Forest Service was made possible by funding provided by Western Federal Lands Highway Division. The General contractor for the project was Rotschy, Inc and stone masonry work was provided by Custom Masonry, Inc.

For additional information, please visit the following websites:

Washington Trails Association

Washington Dept. of Transportation

Portland hikers Field guide

Green Streets on ASLA Website

A recent article authored by Jason King and Shawn Kummer appeared in the ASLA Urban Design Professional Practice Network - discussing some recent work on green street projects and their role in shaping urban form.

"Green streets, like many other green infrastructure strategies, offer the same or better functional contributions as gray streets, as well as a range of added benefits. For example, green storm water design contributes to communities well beyond treating 90% of roadway pollutants, replenishing groundwater, sequestering carbon, and improving air quality. More expansive community benefits include improved neighborhood aesthetics, green connections, pedestrian and bicycle safety, traffic calming, and building community consensus around what is a good infrastructure investment. This transfer of investment from single-purpose gray infrastructure such as cartridge storm filters to multi-purpose green infrastructure investment allows for greater benefit to communities—both financially and environmentally—making every dollar invested pay back abundantly. The economics are simple: green storm water infrastructure provides more green in our communities, costs less, works better, is easily scalable, and is more resilient and adaptable than standard pipe systems. While the techniques to improve the control and treatment of storm water runoff are still evolving, green stormwater designs, like many other green infrastructure techniques, are proving to be flexible, offering solutions at a variety of scales rather than just at the end of the pipe. "

Read the entire article here.

Windscape Video

Construction was recently completed on the GreenWorks project 'Windscape', which  "...forms a dramatic landmark in the Gateway District of Northeast Portland; an art installation at an undevelopable site dominated by vehicle traffic.  A constructed topography built from the concrete rubble of a major streetscape redevelopment project recalls the rugged slopes and bluffs of the Columbia River Gorge. Bisecting the landform are rows of flexible windpoles, 20 feet tall and laid out in the cardinal directions. The north-south double row symbolizes adjacent 102nd Avenue as it cuts through the landform. The east-west row of poles represents East Burnside Street, as it was the baseline upon which the city of Portland was laid out." The recent installation of the wind poles gave the opportunity, with this past weekends high-velocity east winds, to see how the project was working in action. Landscape Architect Shawn Kummer, who was the GreenWorks designer for the project, shot the following video:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2eREj0lxxw]

"Motion is the key theme of the piece. The windpoles flex, dependent upon the amount and direction of the wind. As a person drives the loop, the view of the piece is in constant movement, as the rows of poles align and then diverge, and the overlapping topographic features rotate, also appearing to move. Stormwater from adjacent roadways will be captured and directed into an infiltration basin on the site which will filter out stormwater contaminants, while also functioning as an aesthetic element that the recycled concrete walls meander through. Douglas fir trees form a contextual backdrop to the piece, creating windows through which to view Windscape and the adjacent development."

Materials for Sustainable Sites

A fabulous resource for landscape architecture is the recent publication from Wiley entitled Materials for Sustainable Sites and authored by Meg Calkins, LEED AP. Ms. Calkins, who is an educator at Ball State University and frequent writer on sustainable materials, has created a valuable must-have resource for site designers for evaluting truly sustainable materials for projects. Often used in our office, the resource is invaluable for life-cycle evaluation as well as a range of options for materials reuse in projects. Read Jason King's review for a more in depth evaluation of the book and it's content.

In addition to being a fabulous resource, GreenWorks is excited that Ms. Calkins chose to showcase some of our projects relating to a number of sustainable materials uses, including reuse of concrete, use of natural and local materials use, and repurposing industrial materials for both sustainable and cultural relevance. The following project excerpts are from the book - along with the associated captions.

Figures CP4-CP5 - Concrete panels cut and removed from exterior building walls in a remodel were resued as site walls by artist Linda Wysong and GreenWorks. The concrete panels define spaces in the landscape, reference the history of the building, and reduce waste materials from the remodel. Holes cut in the concrete panels focus views (Photo from GreenWorks PC.)

the confluence project

Figure CP17 - Crushed oyster shell paving at the Confluence Project, commemorating the journey of Lewis and Clark, by Maya Lin and GreenWorks was obtained from nearby Oysterville, Washington, the Pacific Northwest hub of oyster production. This reused material from a local industrial waste product was crushed to a spec equivalent to one-quarter inch minus stone and installed four inches think in the Totem Circle (Photo from GreenWorks PC.)

tanner springs park

Figures CP35-CP37 - The undulating wall at Tanner Springs Park in Portland, constructed from reclaimed railroad rails, connects the current park site to its history. Atelier Dreiseitl and GreenWorks intended the wall to represent the 'skin' of the city being pulled back to expose the original wetland site prior to the railroad, industry, and the current mixed-use neighborhood. (Photo from GreenWorks PC.)