Husky Sustainable Storms: Bioswale (Phase 3)

Executive Summary:

Husky Sustainable Storms (HSS) in conjunction with the University of Washington and Huitt-Zollars, Inc. is upgrading the existing stormwater infrastructure of the N1 parking lot. A sustainable system, known as a biofiltration planter will be installed on Stevens Lane. This is a large walkway connecting the University District neighborhood to campus. An estimated 2,000 students use this walkway each day. In addition to conveying stormwater from the N1 parking lot, the new green infrastructure will reduce the velocity and pollution of stormwater drained from the parking lot.

HSS consists of seven students representing 5 departments, 2 Colleges, and ranges from undergraduate to Ph.D. students. HSS has been collaborating with the Universities’ Staff in the following departments: Facilities, Transportation, Planning, and Civil Engineering.

For more information on the full project team and an elaborated description of the project, please visit huskysustainablestorms.org.

Student Involvement:

The project has had a total of seven students volunteer their time to the project. Each student had specific roles and responsibilities when it came to the design and implementation of the project.

Patrick Green, Master of Urban Planning and Master of Public Affairs Candidate
Project Manager for Planning and Outreach – Reporting Liasion
Patrick manages the project’s development and authorization process. He will manage reporting to the various funding organizations, budgeting procedures, navigating City of Seattle permitting process, and negotiating.

Stefanie Young, Master of Urban Planning Candidate
Project Manager for Construction and Implementation
Stefanie manages the project’s design development. She possesses a bachelors of architecture and professional experience in architectural project design and development. She has professional served several architectural firms in Seattle.

Matt McNair, Master of Civil and Environmental Engineering Candidate
Project Civil Engineer
Matt is working towards a Masters in Civil Engineering. His educational and professional background in civil engineering has been instrumental in researching stormwater treatment designs. Through the feasibility study, Matt will continue the site selection process as well as work closely with the UW engineering staff in researching the correct design codes for a stormwater facility.

Erica Bush, Master of Urban Planning and Landscape Architecture Candidate
Project Landscape Architect
Erica is a current student in Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning. She brings her experience in design and planning to the projects landscape development. Erica will work closely with Matt and Stefanie in developing plant and soil designs that maximize the effectiveness of green infrastructure and water treatment.

Sunni Wissmer, Undergraduate in Community, Environment, and Planning Program
Public Outreach Coordinator
Sunni is an undergraduate at UW who already has experience in developing and implementing rain gardens. She will be assisting all members with their outreach work to student groups and local organizations. 

Kristen Gelino, Master of Urban Planning Candidate
Procurement Coordinator
Kristen is working toward a Masters of Urban Planning with a specialization in environmental planning. She possesses a bachelors degree from the University of Michigan in environmental science and political science and has participated in research projects in wetland ecosystems. She is helping round out the final phases of the project, especially in respects to procurement.

Michele Hill, Master of Urban Planning Candidate
CAD Specialist
Michele has a bachelors of Architecture and is currently pursuing her Master of Urban Planning. In the last phases of Design submittal, she is helping red-line all documents and help with the procurement of plants and materials.

Education & Outreach:

Due to its location, the bioswale will be served by most students and visitors to campus. A light rail station will be in constructed and in use by the year 2016, making the entryway where the bioswale is located a main entrance into the University of Washington.

Visitors at our chosen site have been documented at about 200 per hour, that number being a mean of 5 selected time periods during which visitors to the site were documented. This number includes both night and day visitors, bringing the annual estimate of visitors to 1,753,162.

The bioswale is already generating interest from several departments on campus who would like to use it for educational purposes, including but not excluded to: The College of Built Environments, The College of Engineering, and The College of Arts and Sciences. It is also going to be featured in campus tours, and will be highlighted in the Office of Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability’s campus sustainability map. HSS is also currently in discussion with a number of high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools interested in visiting and learning more about the bioswale.

Husky Sustainable Storms has already developed and performed a seminar series. In this series, we explored the process of developing a small infrastructure from design through construction. The PowerPoints and talking points are available through our public website.

Environmental Impact:
  • Living Systems and Biodiversity
  • Water
Project Longevity:

Environmental Problem:

Currently the site is turf and impervious paving. With the construction of the bioswale, we will be increasing the amount of native plants on site and decreasing the amount of impervious surface. Moreover, we will be improving stormwater management and cleaning pollutant runoffs from the adjacent parking lots for the Burke Museum. In total, we are enhancing the current conditions when it comes to natural features, water, soil, and vegetation management.

Explain how the impacts will be measured:

The project design facilitates easy access to drains before and after the biofiltration system. This is two fold: (1) Access for maintenance to clean the drains and (2) Accessibility for testing the water quality coming in and out of the system.

Total amount requested from the CSF: $4,500
This funding request is a: Grant
If this is a loan, what is the estimated payback period?:

Budget:

Personell Type Hourly Rates Projected Time (hrs)COST
Concrete $50.00 150 $7,500.00
Landscaping $55.00 10 $550.00
Irrigation Removal/Installation $58.00 50 $2,900.00
Excavation/Grading $75.00 100 $7,500.00
TOTALS $18,450.00
Special Jobs Price per unit Projected Number of Units
Excavator - Grading (C.Y.) $80.00 250 $20,000.00
Export Material (C.Y) $9.00 250 $2,250.00
Concrete Cutting (L.F.) $4.50 40 $180.00
Irrigation Removal (L.F.) $38.00 250 $9,500.00
TOTALS $31,930.00
Material** :Price per unit*** Projected Number of Units
Plain Concrete - Per SF $8.00 540 $4,320.00
Gravel - Per SF $3.00 700 $2,100.00
Soil - CY $38.00 100 $3,800.00
Drainage Pipe - Per LF $12.00 313 $3,756.00
Type 30 Connections $75.00 3 $225.00

Non-CSF Sources:

Source/DescriptionAmount RequestedDate RequestedDate Received
EPA Rainworks Grant (Applied, Awarded in April)$15,00012.12.2012TBD
Huitt-Zollars – In kind services$15,0003.1.2012Working with Huitt-Zollars throughout the design phase.
Project Completion Total: $87,053

Timeline:

TaskTimeframeEstimated Completion Date
Finalize CD Drawings1 month (Jan)$0
Side Sewer Permit1 day (Jan)$815
Materials2 months (Feb-March)$21,359
Construction (including 20% contingency)2 months (April-May)$64,888.80