PARKING LOT OPEN TOMORROW, SATURDAY, 11/22

The lot will be open tomorrow! Please be courteous to the construction workers that are still here finishing up.

Winter Months

Just a reminder: THE LOT IS NOT 100% COMPLETE! There are several things throughout the lot that will not remain in the end, but are allowing the lot to be opened tomorrow. The permanent light poles have not arrived, so there are two temporary light poles currently installed. The sign poles (2-Hour Parking, Handicap, etc) are also not here yet. The silver poles currently up will be replaced by decorative poles. The dumpster enclosure fence is not complete.

Also, landscaping will be done in the spring. There are 13 more trees plus much much more yet to come in all the planter areas!

Permeable Brick Pavement

While walking through our new parking lot, you may notice a difference between the sidewalk brick and the pavement brick. There are numerous differences, both that you can and can't see:

1) The pavement (vehicular) brick is 1/2" thicker than the sidewalk brick. Just as asphalt or concrete pavement is thicker than concrete sidewalk, we do the same here to create a stronger material for cars to drive on.

2) The pavement brick has a subbase made entirely of stone. There is 1' of stone that is 1" to 3" in size, which is capped by stone that is up to 3/4" in size, which is then capped by an even smaller chip. Then the brick goes on top of this. The sidewalk bricks are placed on a 5" concrete underlayement. I'll explain the stone subbase in a moment.

3) The sidewalk bricks are closer together than the pavement bricks. This is due to the size of the "nubs" that are on the sides of the bricks.

4) The sidewalk bricks are filled in with sand. The pavement bricks are filled in with a colored granite chip.

The reason for all these differences is that the pavement brick pavement system is permeable (aka, water can drain through). The larger voids between each brick allow for water to trickle through the granite chips and then into the stone subbase. There are several hundred feet of underdrains throughout the parking lot which drain the water into the structures and on to the storm sewer system.

More brick photos

Brick Installation Has Begun!

Concrete Underlayement

The concrete contractor is hard at work installing all the concrete that goes below the sidewalk brick. There is a 5" layer of concrete, on which goes 1" of sand, followed by the brick pavers. The brick subcontractor should be on site within the next couple of days to begin setting brick. Check back by the end of the week for some pictures!

Schedule Update

The General Contractor is site grading the parking lot. What that means is that they are cutting the dirt down to subgrade, or the level below what makes up the parking lot. The parking lot will be paved with bricks, but beneath those bricks is 18" of stone.

The Concrete Contractor is now on site placing all the curb that goes throughout the parking lot. That's going to be about 1000 Feet of curb! They're moving pretty quickly, though, and should knock most of it out this week and next.

The Electrical Contractor is constantly in and out of the site, placing conduit and wiring wherever available.