Hi. I have a question about minor improvements within the water body body buffer. It says "grade changes necessary to ensure public access." We have a small First Order stream segment between our project site and the main access road. The language implies that public access to the site would be allowed across the stream. (2) access points are currently planned. I would assume this will require 2 bridges. We have planned to move the building back to avoid development outside of the 100' clearance required for the stream. But I will not be able to convince the owner to build a 200' span bridge.
Is it correct to assume we would be allowed to install (2) access points across the streams? If yes, what would a reasonable span for a bridge be to cross the stream? The exact width of the stream bed is not known at this time, but does not appear very wide. For the sake of this question, lets assume it is 10' wide maximum.
I am looking forward to your reply.
thanks
Laura
Blake Jackson
Director of SustainabilityNORR
LEEDuser Expert
6 thumbs up
August 7, 2019 - 9:16 am
You are correct in moving the building 100' clear of the stream per the LEED requirement under "water bodies". You may also bridge the stream at the two points suggested. This does not mean that you need to construct 200-feet of bridge. Under the "minor improvements", you are allowed to create pathways in areas where you are not allowed to build a building up to 12-feet wide (your suggestion of 10' widths on the bridges would comply). Not knowing your site/topography, what they're saying here is that you can create a pathway on terra firma up to a point at which you need to "bridge" the (in your estimate above, 10') stream; thus, you'd have 180-linear-feet of compliant pathway on land + (2) compliant bridges at 20-linear-feet. This pathway and the bridges need to meet the additional requirements under minor improvements: 1) "clearings", the maximum width allowable for the path, the 8' maximum width of impervious area, and the tree removal types. Best of luck on your project!
Louise Schlatter
ArchitectSSOE Group
86 thumbs up
August 7, 2019 - 1:55 pm
Hi Blake. Thanks so much for your response.
I want to clarify my question. I did confirm with the civil engineer that bridges are planned. The bridges are for vehicle access so they will be 24' wide. The span across the creek will be dependent of the grades. We may be able to install multiple bridge abutments to minimize work in the creek clear area.
For the crossing, I envision at (2) central abutments approximately 20' away from the center of the creek with a 40' span bridge above. Then a second set of abutments on each side with additional 40' spans The total span of the bridge would be approximately 120' with two intermediate supports. The remain 40' on each side would be graded to as necessary to make the everything align. Total 200'.
We are waiting for our Phase 2 site assessment which may classify the site as a brownfield. If remediation is required, it may be possible combine the work for one of the two crossings with the remediation efforts.
With this further explanation, do you feel we still meet the intent of the credit?
thanks again
Blake Jackson
Director of SustainabilityNORR
LEEDuser Expert
6 thumbs up
August 9, 2019 - 10:15 am
This sounds like a much larger project than I had originally envisioned by the first post. Since this is a heavy infrastructure project, it transcends the "minor improvements", and honestly, this will be difficult to assess without physically seeing the drawings. You have to be careful what you place within your LEED project scope/LEED Boundary, as remember, LEED is certifying buildings, not infrastructure. They wrote the credit so that buildings wouldn't be placed in the floodplains; however, LEED makes a lot of assumptions - i.e. projects meet the ground (not on stilts). There are always alternative compliance pathways available where LEED creates such ambiguities, so, if the bridge is necessary for the project to happen, start making your case there. Clearly, an infrastructure project like this, while being grounded in a floodplain, will be not be designed with the roadway within the floodplain - only the supporting structure, which would be piles minimally impacting the ground, which can meet the intent of the minor improvements. Again, without seeing the project, it is extremely difficult to advise you on this. Sincerely, -Blake