ED Green Pier-Civil Engineering: Rationale

The Green Pier project consists of three main parts-the architecture, the landscaping, and the dock building. Each group member controls one part of the project. For my section, I am focusing on the landscaping and civil engineering. I am designing everything up to the bulkhead, including a promenade which will connect to two piers-one for docking boats, and one for fishing.

The first part of the project that I designed was the site. My first alternate solution barely changed the landscape of the site. I decided to survey the land and close to the coast because there is a huge drop down to the bay. Then I decided to pull out existing plants and replace them with new ones. This plan is a good idea because it keeps everything natural looking and calls for minimal construction. It leaves plenty of room for the banquets that are frequently held in the chapel and in tents set up on the land next to it. One downfall to this plan is that it requires very little change, so there is very little expression of my style to the land. Then again, I would be deciding which plants to use when I replace the existing ones.

My second alternate solution adds two picnic areas in the open land. I will survey the land and replant existing shrubbery. The picnic areas are covered with a concrete floor and have two or three metal picnic tables underneath the covered area. This will attract more fishermen and visitors to the park because they could sit and have a nice lunch under the covering. It would get them out of the hot, summer sun and allow them to sit down and be comfortable. A downfall is that by placing these areas, I am taking away from the area that the company uses to hold weddings, and if there were a wedding, the tables would get in the way and not look the greatest. The areas would take away from the natural beauty of the chapel and the bay.

My third alternate solution includes more parking for the chapel. I decided to extend parking about eighty feet in front of the chapel to allow for more visitors by car. I would survey and fill the land by the bay, and replace the overgrown and dead plants. I also include a picnic area. The picnic area is about sixty feet by eighty feet and has a cover and cement floor. There will be four to five tables where people could get out of the sun or enjoy food. Positives of this design were the extended parking lot so travelers could have more opportunities to park closer, as well as the bigger picnic area to allow for larger groups. Downfalls were that we weren’t sure if we wanted more people to park because it would cause more traffic. We also weren’t sure if we wanted a bigger picnic area, especially if it interfered with weddings and events held at the chapel.

My final alternate solution included a picnic area with no covering, as well as a gazebo. The land near the bay needs to be surveyed, and the plants need to be replaced. The picnic area wouldn’t have been covered or have a floor. There would just be picnic tables in an area to allow people to rest after a long day of fishing. The gazebo would be there for the shade, and may have a few chairs to relax in and look out at the bay.

I decided to choose my first alternate solution. During class, we went out to look at our site and saw all of the tents set up outside of the chapel, and they took up a ton of space. I don’t want to build a picnic area when people currently use the field next to the Chapel frequently for weddings and other big events. I also didn’t decide to extend the parking lot because there is no need to. The existing parking lot is in good condition, and it has just enough spots. If we made more room, people wouldn’t only use that parking for our area, so it could cause problems. The land needs to be surveyed and filled, and the plants need to be completely replanted. I am using Smilax rotundifolia, Amelanchier canadensis, and Rhus glabra for trees; Helianthus angustifolius, Helianthus debilis, Coreopsis gladiata, Cornus florida, and Magnolia grandiflora for flowers; and Ammophila breviligulata, Panicum amarum, Panicum virgatum for grasses.

The next part of my project is to design a promenade to link the piers and the land. The two piers would attach to this promenade which would lead to the ground where people could relax and look at the scenery. My first alternate solution is two hundred feet by twenty feet. It has a bench every twenty feet along the land side, and includes railings to prevent people from falling over the edge into the water. It has entrances to the piers thirty five feet in on each side, and one entrance to the land. This pomenade lacks an expression of creativity, and it also is too long.

My second alternate solution is one hundred sixty feet long by twenty feet wide. Benches are located every twenty five feet, and railings are all around the promenade. Entrance to the piers is located five feet in from each end, and there is one entrance to the land. This promenade also lacks creativity, but the length works much better. The one entrance leaves it very open to people coming on and off the pier, and opens it up to the park area very well.

My third alternate solution is one hundred eighty feet by twenty five feet. It has benches located randomly along the land facing the ocean, as well as binoculars you could pay to use to look into Atlantic Highlands and Highlands. Piers connect to the promenade twenty feet in, and railings are located all along the edges. This would work very well because of the additional binoculars and two entrances to the park. The pier is wider to allow for more people, but it is longer than it should have been.

My final alternate solution for the promenade is two hundred feet by twenty five feet. It has benches every twenty feet along the railings with one main entrance and two smaller entrances on the ends. The pier connections are thirty feet from each end, and there are also binoculars on the pier. This pier is a little too long, and there is too much empty space.

After discussing with my partner about the piers, I decided that alternate solution two would be the best. It has just enough to make everything look put together, but it doesn’t take away from the natural appearance of anything. The entire idea is to be environmentally friendly, and this promenade design would do it best. It is the shortest of the four, allowing it to work well in our given space, and the entrances to the piers work the best with my partner’s design. The benches are to be made of the left over wood from the chapel to preserve everything and tie it all together. This promenade was the best fit for our idea.