Birdseye View of Oregon City’s “Jughandle Project” at Highway 213

This birdseye view of Oregon City’s Jughandle Project at Highway 213 shows the scale and context of this significant infrastructure project, which is currently under construction. GreenWorks prepared this graphic to illustrate our role in helping design a new landscape gateway into downtown Oregon City, a new roundabout with planting medians, green streets with stormwater facilities, street trees, bicycle lanes and a 6+ acre floodplain mitigation site.

Hosford Middle School Stormwater Project

Construction of a swale at Hosford Middle School began during the school’s winter break. It was designed by GreenWorks, PC and constructed by DeSantis Landscapes for the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership’s stormwater and schools efforts. The design includes a curved concrete wall and other features that reduce the maintenance efforts needed by Portland Public Schools. The swale infiltrates runoff from approximately 4,600 square feet of the school’s roof and reduces the amount of runoff to the combined sewer system. The rerouted downspout creates a runoff powered water feature by directing water through a series of basalt columns before spilling into the swale. The project provides schoolyard learning opportunities for students, beautifies the school grounds, and supports local and regional efforts to improve the health of our rivers through onsite stormwater management. Students and Estuary Partnership educators will plant several hundred native plants in the swale in the next few weeks. Project partners include Hosford Middle School, the Estuary Partnership and Portland Public Schools. We would like to thank the City of Portland, East Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District, and New Seasons Market for their generous support.

Nature Play Emerging at Silver Falls State Park

NATURAL PLAY SETTING Last week construction was in full force at Silver Falls State Park with a crew working on the natural play area. The Bear, Cougar, and Bird themed discovery areas are being developed with unique large log components. The North Falls Nature Play Area was designed around a 1/4 mile loop trail with 15 animal themed areas. The setting and access to natural materials will make this a fantastic project!

CONSTRUCTION AND VOLUNTEERS A four foot diameter fir tree was felled, portioned into pieces, peeled and placed in the natural play area. Half of the tree will become a crawl through 'cub den'. The other half will be hollowed out and become the 'bear cave'. Tons of rocks were arranged into a scramble so kids can climb the rocks like a Cougar would. A group of volunteers braved the rain last weekend and planted hundreds of native trees and shrubs. The play areas instantly felt more alive. The bird blind was also set and the project is one step closer to completion. Look for a grand opening announcement in June 2013.

Engelman Park Nearing Completion

Wilsonville’s next Neighborhood Park, Engelman Park, is nearing completion. Site amenities include paths, native plantings, seating areas, and nature based playgrounds which are nestled amongst a framework of large specimen trees that include Douglas Fir, Engelmann Spruce, and a lone Red Oak.  JP Contractors will be completing the construction next month for the park which will provide a central open space for the Montebello neighborhood.

Construction Nearly Complete on the Lewis and Clark Festival Park

Kirby Nagelhout is wrapping up construction at The Lewis and Clark Festival Park in The Dalles. Construction of the $2.9 million park began in November 2011, and on Friday, July 13^th, Mike Faha and Alex Perove performed a final walk-through, inspecting the irrigation and planting design. Cedar Landscape, Inc. is the licensed landscape contractor that installed the entire site’s irrigation, planting, and the concrete unit pavers in the main plaza. Strong roof lines from the building, the trees, and expansive green lawn are some of the park elements that are visible from the freeway. These elements create an attractive buffer between I-84 and the railroad, and establish a green identity for the city of The Dalles. The grand opening of the park is tentatively scheduled for Thursday, September 6, 2012.

We would love for you to join us at the opening of the city’s newest community park!

The Lewis and Clark Festival Park is Under Construction!

Located in The Dalles, Oregon, the festival area is positioned on a swath of land in between I-84 and the Union Pacific Railroad. Comparable in size to approximately three Portland city blocks, this design incorporates a parking lot, and a covered picnic pavilion, buttressed by restroom and picnic facilities. This focal point forms a strong presence to Union Street as well as a stage to the "great" lawn in which events could be held. A public art feature is proposed to be located on axis with Court Street. All of these elements combined, help to establish a strong connection with the historic downtown to the Columbia River, enhancing community identity, and encouraging economic development.

Wyeth Columbia River Treaty Fishing Access Site – Planting after 1 Year

Plants have been in the ground at the Wyeth site for nearly one year now and are thriving, as the comparison photos showing the condition at time of planting and a year later attest to. The Wyeth project is now complete having met requirements for a one year plant establishment period. To find out more about this project, please use the links provided below for past articles about this project.  

http://greenworkspc.wordpress.com/2011/01/28/rufus-restoration-planting-completed/

http://greenworkspc.wordpress.com/2011/01/21/native-planting-restoration-begins-at-the-wyeth-columbia-river-treaty-fishing-access-site/

http://greenworkspc.wordpress.com/2010/07/19/wyeth-columbia-river-treaty-fishing-access-site-breaks-ground/

Cape Horn Trail Pedestrian Tunnels

Stone work construction is nearly complete on the facades of two pedestrian tunnels currently under construction on Highway 14 in the Columbia Gorge. For additional information about this project, please go to http://greenworkspc.wordpress.com/2011/05/20/construction-of-cape-horn-trail-pedestrian-tunnel-improvements/  

Construction of Cape Horn Trail Pedestrian Tunnel Improvements

Construction is underway on two pedestrian tunnels to improve safety for users of the eight mile Cape Horn Trail, which currently crosses heavily traveled State Route 14 twenty-six miles east of Vancouver, WA(Mile post 24.8 and 26.5). The Cape Horn Trail is a popular trail for its spectacular views of the Columbia River Gorge. GreenWorks, working with Wallis Engineering, provided the design for the stone facing of the tunnel facades. The tunnel facades use local quarried basalt stone and have been designed to fit with other historic examples of stone masonry 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 was made possible by funding provided by Western Federal Lands Highway Division. Other construction related to the project will improve safety on SR14 in this area by straightening curves and adding turning lanes. The General contractor for the project is Rotschy, Inc and stone masonry work is being provided by Custom Masonry, Inc.

To learn more about the project, please visit the following websites:

http://www.wta.org/trail-news/signpost/cape-horn-campaign

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/sr14/capehornsafety

Chambers Creek WWTP Site Perimeter Improvements Under Construction

Construction has begun on the first phase of a 30-year, five-phase expansion of the Chambers Creek Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP), located in University Place, WA on a former quarry site on the Puget Sound. The WWTP expansion is necessary to protect the health of the Sound and surrounding environment by upgrading treatment facilities and providing additional capacity that will meet the needs associated with future economic growth in the region.

The first phase consists of 33 acres of site perimeter improvements, and includes a 200'-wide vegetated landscape buffer that extends around the majority of the plant perimeter. This buffer will provide a visual and physical screen to the plant as well as valuable habitat for a variety of native fawna. The north perimeter buffer will also accommodate approximately 6 acres of stormwater infiltration basins and swales that will treat all impervious surfaces throughout existing and future expansion areas of the WWTP.  Additionally, new pedestrian trails will be constructed along the east perimeter buffer to connect existing trail networks adjacent to the WWTP site.

The photo below is a panorama of the site grading for the north perimeter buffer, which includes the stormwater infiltration basins as well as a new reclaimed water basin.  This basin will hold post-process water that will be used to irrigate the entire Chambers Bay Properties, which also include public parks adjacent to the WWTP as well as the award-winning Chambers Bay Golf Course to the north.

Click the image to enlarge.