Overview of two pilot projects of the Parking Forest, an assembly of common materials used to increase tree canopy and manage stormwater in parking lots without losing parking spaces.
1. The Parking Forest:
Linear Tree Wells Using Structural Soil
503.334.8634
www.greengirlpdx.com
greengirl@greengirlpdx.com
a certified women business enterprise
Sustainability for all the places between the buildings
4. 50%
evaporation
100% XX” average
annual rainfall
Why do we need more trees in the urban fabric?
Water Balance BEFORE Development
25% groundwater
(deep infiltration)
0.5% runoff
7. Hydromodification
from a Watershed Perspective
Please! Keep your
runoff volume to
yourself!
• Additional volumes
result in exceeding predeveloped rates that
scour stream banks.
• Additional durations of
flow impact habitat
further.
9. What’s wrong with the trees we’ve got?!
Photo Source: gratefulmommy.com
10. What about all those lovely
tree-lined streets in Portland?
11. Trees Need Soil to Grow
Graph Source: USDA Forest Service Center for Urban Forest Research
Slide courtesy of Todd Prager ,Todd Prager & Associates
12. Trees Need Soil to Grow
5 ft Crown
40 cu ft Soil
20 ft Crown
450 cu ft Soil
40 ft Crown
2000+ cu ft Soil
Photos and observations courtesy of Todd Prager, Todd Prager & Associates
14. The Parking Forest
A Close Up
Crushed
aggregate
Tree
Re-paved area
Pavement
outside of
Parking Forest
Wheel stop
Undisturbed native
clayey soil
Amended native
clayey soil
Structural
Structural
Soil
Soil (dry)
30. A Second Way of Providing Tree Roots with
Adequate Soil Volume Under Pavement
. Photo courtesy of Jim Labbe
31. AAnother Way of Providing Tree Roots with
Second Way of Providing Tree Roots with
Adequate Soil Volume Under Pavement
Adequate Soil Volume Under Pavement
. Photo courtesy of Jim Labbe
32. A Second Way of Providing Tree Roots with
Adequate Soil Volume Under Pavement
Jim Labbe in Nijmegen Netherlands.
Photo courtesy of Jim Labbe
33. A Third Way of Providing Tree Roots with
Adequate Soil Volume Under Pavement
Photo probably ripped off the Silva Cell website by Brian Wegener
37. Structural Soil Costs - Olympia
“The price to supply, deliver and install the structural soil material per
cubic yard ranged from $19 to $85 with an average bid of $42, the median
price was $39.50.
The city paid $24 per cubic yard for the structural soil material to the low
bidder.
This compare to a price quote we received for the supply of CU structural
soil at $65 per cubic yard plus delivery. The source was over an hour’s drive
away and delivery charges were $85 per hr with a truck and trailer hauling 22
cubic yard. The expected cost delivered was $72 per cubic yard.”
Excerpted from “Structural Soil Demonstration Project”
http://olympiawa.gov/~/media/Files/CPD/Urban%20Forestry/Forms/StructuralSoil.as
hx
Source: City of Olympia -Structural Soil Demonstration Project
42. Siting Criteria
• Site is suitable for infiltration
• Non-expansive soils
• Soils should infiltrate at least 0.2 inches/hour*. Clay soils
are OK!
*Based on 2ft of structural soil, 25% void ratio, facility empty in 30 hours to be
ready for the next Type IA storm
43. PCC Sylvania Lot 10
Drainage Area
Parking Lot
1919 sf
Sidewalk
754 sf
<50% Grass HSG C
615 sf
Woods, Good HSG C
2815 sf
6103 sf
6133 sf
45. The Parking Forest Retrofit
at PCC Sylvania Lot 10
Ignore the piles
of dirt. They’re
gone.
46. Design Differences at PCC Sylvania Lot 10
Installed an impervious liner
adjacent to impervious
asphalt
Stakeholders
chose a native
conifer
Left most of
the parking lot
unmodified/
impervious
52. Siting Criteria at PCC
• Site is suitable for infiltration
• Non-expansive soils
• Soils should infiltrate at least 0.2 inches/hour*. Clay soils
are OK!
*Based on 2ft of structural soil, 25% void ratio, facility empty in 30 hours to be
ready for the next Type IA storm
Silva Cells are an commercially produced support structure made of plastic for under pavement. The matrix is filled with a soil mix appropriate for trees. Silva cells have an advantage over structural soils in that 92% of the volume can be filled with planting medium, compared to something on the order of 22% for structural soils.