After upstream development caused degradation within the stream corridor, the restoration of a tributary to Niver Creek (Tributary M) addressed an ongoing concern of system stability in order to protect public safety, nearby infrastructure, and local ecology. Leading the design, Otak collaborated closely with the City of Thornton, the Mile High Flood District (MHFD), and Stream Landscape Architecture + Planning in developing a design that would stabilize the area, reconnect the channel to it’s floodplain, and maintain connection to the retention area providing flood control for the community.
Stream Restoration to Preserve Resources and Public Safety
The restoration of Niver Creek Tributary M reestablishes the natural system as a healthy, high-functioning stream while also creating an opportunity to better utilize the area for the community in combination with enhancements to the Niver Creek Open Space. Reconnecting to its floodplain and realigning segments where necessary, the design allows the stream to spread out and slow down during high flows, reducing erosion and supporting a thriving riparian corridor. Meeting a key priority in preserving mature riparian trees perched along eroded banks, the design team quickly adapted an original restoration plan. That update would modify the floodplain grading while also balancing considerations such as backwater effects of a downstream earthen dam, permitting constraints, underlying geology, proposed bank heights, revegetation areas, and estimated construction costs. As part of this restoration process, a range of alternatives with geomorphic, hydraulic, and cost-benefit analysis produced an ultimate restoration project that realigned the channel around critical utility infrastructure, preserved mature vegetation, and reconnected the channel to its historical floodplain. These improvements represent an example of how flood mitigation can leverage its surrounding context to provide nature-based solutions also foster safe, recreational opportunities for the regional community.
In revitalizing the central business district of Carnation, Washington, the reconstruction of four blocks was designed to improve a variety of areas from stormwater and utilities to traffic signage and pedestrian wayfinding. As the prime consultant completing these extensive streetscape improvements, Otak led the design, community engagement, and development of a comprehensive construction sequencing plan to minimize disruption to existing downtown businesses.
A Revitalized Streetscape Emphasizing Pedestrian Connectivity and Low Impact Development
This federally-funded project applies a community-character design theme that draws on the area’s history to deliver new streetscape amenities as well as a host of functional streetscape improvements. Unique metal cut-out panels used as banners on street light poles and incorporated into street furniture highlight this theme. The design for core blocks downtown focused on pedestrian connectivity and gathering spaces while underground stormwater quality treatment vaults placed beneath sidewalks function as root-storage, allowing for street trees to be placed within the dense business-district environment. Integrated adjacent to the planter areas are stormwater bioretention facilities creating natural balance with landscape plantings. Use of a depressed-curb intersection design at Bird Street opens the cross-street pedestrian corridor for future festivals and other street events.
A combination of important roadway safety improvements and stream habitat enhancements provided the basis for repairs to Manley Road. With steep grades, sharp turns, and short sightlines, the existing roadway crosses Daybreak Creek at multiple locations where undersized culverts blocked fish passage to important upstream habitat. Otak worked as an extension of Clark County Public Works staff by providing stream, structural, and environmental permitting to ultimately benefit both driver safety and fish habitat for species including Endangered Species Act (ESA) protected salmonids.
In replacing the four undersized culverts, a multidisciplinary design process was established that included analysis of hydraulics, geomorphology, and habitat. Environmental permit approvals were also obtained while working in a stream with ESA protected species. Along with the design of replacement crossings was the opportunity for 750 feet of stream enhancements, all of which overcame unique challenges including: low cover at the crossings, steep channel slopes, dynamic lateral channel movement, and a failing roadway embankment. These enhancements improved the habitat conditions through bottomless culverts, detailed cascade-pool channel design, and bioengineered bank stabilization techniques. More than 3,000 plants were also added as part of the planting design. For an area prone to traffic accidents, roadway safety improvements adjusted the horizontal and vertical alignment of Manley Road while also addressing required stormwater management facilities.
As one of only a few locations on the island not having an adequate bypass route for emergency vehicles, Oakes Road was designed to provide a bypass in the event that this section of SR 525 becomes blocked. To offset unavoidable wetland, stream, and buffer impacts associated with the construction of the bypass, a compensatory wetland mitigation plan was designed to support local, state, and federal permitting.
Roadway Design with Unique Environmental Implications
A new, two-lane asphalt roadway, Oakes Road included features such as graded shoulders, drainage ditches and culverts; bioretention and infiltration LID facilities; retaining walls; onsite wetland and stream mitigation; utility relocations; channelization; and signing. The federally-funded project was also unique in that it traverses land parcels containing uncut forests and existing homes which ultimately required establishing an alignment that met objectives while also seeking to minimize property impacts and setbacks from existing structures and private wells. The goal of the mitigation site is to enhance an existing low-functioning wet pasture to a high-functioning wetland with a mosaic of wetland habitats using native plants. Otak led the planning and design of Oakes Road along with the wetland delineation and functional assessment, including coordination of environmental permitting, documentation, and plan installation.
Ongoing work across numerous planning and design projects with the City of Burien has resulted in several regional stormwater facilities to serve redevelopment and growth. With several targeted and city-wide stormwater plans in place, the City of Burien is addressing drainage issues and investing in green infrastructure to support development while protecting local streams. In developing these plans and its subsequent projects, Otak also led community engagement in person and through interactive GIS StoryMaps to ensure an equitable process as well as community and staff buy-in.
Leveraging GIS Data for Ongoing, Equitable Stormwater Improvement
Starting with a master drainage plan for the North East Redevelopment Area (NERA), the City of Burien has expanded its stormwater approach and broader infrastructure development goals. Using hydrologic analysis and hydraulic modeling, the NERA plan included managing existing and future stormwater needs. The plan was implemented through years of design work, including all the way through construction management for regional stormwater facilities. Later, a Stormwater Management Action Plan (SMAP) was developed based on basin-level GIS analyses to protect and improve Miller Creek through green infrastructure and policy changes in the downtown catchment. The broader Burien stormwater master plan goes further to analyze city-wide drainage issues and design system improvements. These actions position the city to reduce flooding and improve water quality for the community.
With the goal of re-establishing its floodplain connectivity, the restoration of St. Vrain Creek enhances aquatic habitats, restores riparian health, and improves stream resiliency. The multi-objective design incorporates features to mitigate future flooding and moderate sediment loads from inundating the Town of Lyons.
Restoring a Floodplain for More Resilient Habitats and Community Flood Mitigation
Central to the design development was a thorough understanding of sediment dynamics and hydraulics. Sediment dynamics were assessed by modeling and comparing reach-scale capacities. The restoration involves approximately 3.2 miles of South St. Vrain Creek, extending from the canyon mouth to the Old St. Vrain Road bridge near the Town of Lyons. Channel hydraulics were assessed by 2D modeling of the study area using the Sedimentation and River Hydraulics 2D (SRH-2D) model, developed by the Bureau of Reclamation. The model informed the design with an understanding of the complex linkages between main channel and floodplain flow, including floodplain benches, overflow channels, and more than a dozen large wood structures throughout the reach. The project team worked with stakeholders to collect feedback and turn concerns into project goals. Otak led the channel restoration design, 2D hydraulic modeling, geomorphology, and sediment transport analyses for this CDBG-DR grant-funded restoration project.
The science of engineering is the backbone of the environment we construct around us, and many people perceive engineering in its most common ways. For example, both civil and structural applications are when engineers are most in the spotlight and is arguably the first thing people think about when considering what “engineering” means. These practice areas are often the most visible because they are physical and affect our daily lives as both participators in the built environment and also as members of society.
“I love being able to see a project come to life. It is quite a spectacular feeling to know I have helped bring someone’s idea into reality.”
Hailey Sibert – Otak Civil Designer
However, engineering can be much more varied than meets the eye, and the practice area is defined by the broader applications that a multidisciplinary approach can have on not only the built environment, but also on the communities that call that environment home.
In this post, we’ll explore the ways in which engineering affects multiple facets of society, and show just how important the intersectional practice is to fully functioning communities.
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Getting People Around, In Multiple Ways
Transportation engineering immediately comes to mind when thinking about the lesser thought applications of the profession. Options for transportation in the built environment don’t just spring up out of nowhere, and the impact that high functioning transportation infrastructure on communities is hard to overstate.
Quality transportation engineering improves how community members get from place to place and serves as a great socioeconomic equalizer. By increasing access to jobs, opportunities, and services through breaking down transportation barriers, engineering directly uplifts disadvantaged groups within municipalities by ensuring everyone gets an equal shot at getting there.
Multi-modal transportation also plays a role here. Communities don’t solely consist of cars, trains, and busses. Designing pedestrian-friendly areas allow neighborhoods to flourish and encourages healthier, more walkable lifestyles among citizens. Greater still, access between point A to point B is improved for those who do opt for public transport, which decreases reliance on cars. This means everything from sustainability perspective, and it’s all made possible through quality engineering that’s designed to move people, not just vehicles.
Using The Natural Flow of Things
The environmental intersections of engineering with purpose are also huge components of quality design. When we envision communities, we design with natural surroundings and not despite them. By doing this, we place an emphasis on low impact development (LID) which gives way to developing green stormwater infrastructure.
The best part about being a civil engineer is building connections. We building infrastructures and improve transportation networks that connect people and communities.
Eva Ho – Otak Civil Engineer
Without a multidisciplinary approach to this type of engineering, the greener aspects of project work may go unnoticed, or natural systems in place may be harmed or interrupted. Instead, engineers can design around habitats by understanding water flow and hydraulics of the site. In this way , water and natural resources engineers play a critical role in making communities not only sustainable for humans, but also more habitable for other forms of wildlife that may exist alongside something out of the built environment.
Helping the Rain Go Away
Quality water resources engineering also helps us answer unique questions about planning and design, including ones in relation to stormwater and surface water management. One might ask themselves, “When the rain falls, where does it go?”
The answer? It’s been engineered to flow through the community in helpful ways. For one, understanding water detention and retention prevents flooding for neighborhoods already in place. Second, it ensures quality of water for communities and natural habitats impacted by the local watershed and stormwater runoff — engineering for the community of life, not just for people.
“My [engineering] work has given me the opportunity to wear many different (hard) hats. I’ve designed cable stay bridges, a variety of buildings, sculptures… every day is an adventure!”
Greg Mines – Otak Structures Engineer
This ultimately helps prevent more vulnerable communities and areas from experiencing the effects of increased or harmful precipitation by injecting climate resiliency into the existing system, something a traditionally structural engineer might not consider. When multifaceted engineers are tasked with a project, they come up with a multi-pronged way of looking at a project that does more than just house, shelter, or get people to work on time.
Finding the Perfect Place for a Project
Engineering helps us answer even more pertinent questions about the built environment and our relationship with it, even before construction begins. So, just what happens on a site before we start building on it? Choosing the right spot to begin work involves a lot more than one would think.
Scrupulous engineering considers all the possibilities in order to find the right place for a project based on a goals and initial design, giving way to the practice of site development. Coming up with creative, practical, buildable, and permittable solutions is the work of engineers as well, and good ones are context sensitive (to cultural and natural resources that exist around a site) before building starts. Design efficiency has everything to do with pre-construction, from choice of materials to making sure things go smoothly from both a budget and site complications perspective. Engineering opens doors to deeper understanding of a project, not just the calculus to get it done, to ensure timely project delivery.
Enjoying Outdoor Spaces
As much impact as good engineering can have, sometimes the work is about leaving that impact with a minimal footprint. This can not only benefit clients, but members of the community that the project might impact. So much of engineering is about enhancing our open spaces and natural landscapes with low-profile infrastructure that allows for greater access and enjoyment from the populace, which can be as simple as a well-placed jungle gym or as complex as designing administrative facilities for parks and natural attractions.
Bike paths, multi-use paths, all of these are often not thought of as a crucial bit of engineering, however they double down on active transportation of the area while continuing to encourage a healthy lifestyle.
Trails and trailheads play a similar role — allowing people to access and connect with nature while preserving the spaces in which they exist and generating interest in the natural environment while in an effort to preserve it.
The thing I like most about working at Otak is the awesome, interdisciplinary team that I get to work with.
Chris Romeyn – Otak Sr. Water Resources Engineeer
And again, even before construction or the start of a project, feasibility studies in these environments also fall into the wheelhouse of engineering, ensuring the safety, sustainability, and resiliency of the site so people can enjoy it, catching problems in advance that might hinder project completion.
Multiple Engineering Disciplines, One Team
The work of engineers at Otak is multi-faceted and interdisciplinary, and we’re proud that our work goes toward the betterment of the communities we serve. The voices, experience and expertise of the engineering teams within our ranks reflects what their work means to them. Take a closer look at the depth and breadth of project work from one of our most esteemed and recognizable practice areas.
A 120-foot replacement for the Kellogg Creek Bridge was needed after being compromised during extreme weather events. The clear span design solved flooding and scour issues from the creek beneath while also protecting a unique, pre-existing fish ladder.
A More Resilient Structure and Sustainable Aquatic Habitat
Because of significant structural issues caused by extreme weather events, Kellogg Creek Bridge included a fast-track approach for the procurement of the design-build team and required quick mobilization and efficiency to meet aggressive construction timeframes. Unusual hydraulics consisting of backwater from the Willamette River resulted in high flows in Kellogg Creek, causing significant scour. The design also enhanced the south bank below the bridge by adding woody debris for fish habitat along with rock revetment for bank stabilization. Otak was the lead design consultant, quality manger, and construction manager for Kellogg Creek Bridge, placing an emphasis on climate change resilience and the sustainability of aquatic habitats.
To provide a more natural open discharge and eliminate a fish barrier from the outfall of Riverton Creek into the Duwamish River, associated flap gates and pipe culverts would need to be removed.
Improved Fish Passage and Pedestrian Bridge
Incorporated into the work was the design of a bridge to carry the Green River Trail over the new Riverton Creek channel. Improvements also include the removal of a portion of an existing concrete retaining wall and of retrofit an existing sheet pile wall that supports Pacific Highway South using soil anchors. Design of a new deep retaining wall supports a private parking lot. Included in stream enhancements was a focus on riparian plantings. In addition to executing the project, the Otak team led updates to previously provided reports and developing plan, specification and estimates (PS&E).
With goals to improve public safety, reduce maintenance frequency, increase drainage system reliability, restore aquatic and riparian habitat, and improve water quality, the City of Issaquah sought to develop a surface and stormwater master plan (SSWMP). The plan develops a prioritized list of stormwater infrastructure and habitat restoration projects to be implemented within a 20-year timeframe, simultaneously helping the city many its grown while remaining compliant with NPDES permitting. The Otak team worked with the city to develop the plan and subsequent projects that would address the impacts of impaired surface water quality, aquatic and riparian habitat degradation, increased flooding, and aging infrastructure.
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