Posted on November 3rd, 2009 in Soil Stabilization by admin
Last year, our Soil Sement® product was used in the construction of the trailhead to the nation’s largest urban nature preserve, Scottsdale’s Lost Dog Wash Trailhead. The project’s mission statement for the access areas was “to develop environmentally responsible public access areas that borrow from and blend into the natural desert landforms and landscape of each specific Preserve access location.” A critical element of achieving their mission was salvaging and stockpiling the top four inches of native soil and native “desert pavement” cobble within the limits of disturbance for later redistribution. This allowed the project’s top-dressing to seamlessly integrate into the adjacent coarse and rugged desert floor. In addition, the parking lot areas and vehicular drives were constructed of Soil Sement stabilized decomposed granite, in lieu of traditional paving materials, to increase percolation and minimize surface runoff and heat gain. The Soil Sement-stabilized granite parking areas and trail surfaces utilized screened site soils to match the adjacent colors and textures of the desert floor.
Cast-in-place concrete seating and stabilized granite surface of the amphitheater
This site was recently awarded the top Honor Award by the American Institute of Architects, Western Mountain Region and also honored by the American Society of Landscape Architects. The Professional Awards Jury 2008 comments capture the achievement of this collaborative effort of the landscape architect, architect and the Preserve staff:
“One of the best examples of environmental stewardship we’ve seen this year. The landscape architect is commended for reusing the plant material. The design is regionally appropriate and moves through the landscape with real restraint.”
Our contribution with Soil Sement was lead by EarthCare Consultants and its managing partner Marty Koether. Marty and EarthCare have lifelong experience in paving and 15 years in stabilization utilizing native materials and innovative stabilization products.
The Lost Dog Wash Trailhead is a real demonstration of the use of modern technology to support the natural environment which is a vital lifestyle and conservation decision and the protection of fragile desert ecology.
See more details from the project in this article from GreenSource Magazine (this link launches a PDF).
EarthCare Consultants and Midwest add our congratulations to the project resources:
| Owner: City of Scottsdale Landscape Architect: FA Project Team:
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Architect: Weddle Gilmore Architects Philip Weddle, AIA Civil Engineer: General Contractor: Rammed Earth Contractor: Steel Contractors: Photovoltaic: |
Tags: Bob, Bob Vitale, earth care consultants, earthcare, earthcare consultants, lost dog, lost dog wash trailhead, marty koether, Midwest, midwest industrial supply, scottsdale, Soil Sement, sustainable design
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