A River Runs Through It

centralia-college-parking-lot-water-from-bridgeOK, so it was only a creek, but any body of water running through the middle of a parking lot adds a dimension not usually considered in parking lot design.

This year, SCJ Alliance’s landscape architecture team is involved in designing Centralia College’s new TransAlta Student Commons. The new commons area eliminates 66 parking spots. This coming spring, the college is building a new, larger parking lot on the north side of the Kaiser Natural Outdoor Learning Laboratory (KNOLL), more than making up the difference.

SCJ partnered with Centralia College and the Washington State Dept. of Enterprise Services to design not just the new parking lot, but also a pedestrian bridge over China Creek, which runs through a separate parking lot, and a trail connecting to the KNOLL.

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SCJ Project Manager Tyrell Bradley

Tyrell Bradley, project manager for SCJ said, “Having a creek run through the center of a parking lot made this project unique. The amount of permitting needed for construction was quite a bit more than your typical parking lot project.”

For the work in and around the creek, the environmental team at SCJ prepared SEPA, JARPA, and Critical Area documents, as well as coordinated with the Washington State Dept. of Fish & Wildlife and the Corps of Engineers.

SCJ also provided construction management for the multifaceted project, including on-site direction for the installation of the China Creek bridge.

Vice President of Finance and Administration for Centralia College, Steve Ward said, “SCJ Alliance assisted Centralia College in designing and constructing a 122-stall parking lot on a site with wetlands and under critical time factors. The project came in on time, on budget, and met or exceeded expectations. We highly recommend considering SCJ Alliance for your civil engineering needs.”

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