The 99 Street Plaza project was designed in 2013 as part of a larger streetscaping project. The small plaza was essentially a sidewalk/boulevard project aimed at improving the existing sitting node adjacent to a neighbourhood café.
Jim Black, the project’s landscape architect from the City of Edmonton, said the old site was a 1.5 metre sidewalk with a three-metre wide hard packed gravel boulevard. In the gravel boulevard stood a 150mm caliper Brandon Elm and a very old 500mm diameter American Elm.
Jim Black, the project’s landscape architect from the City of Edmonton, said the old site was a 1.5 metre sidewalk with a three-metre wide hard packed gravel boulevard. In the gravel boulevard stood a 150mm caliper Brandon Elm and a very old 500mm diameter American Elm.
A design using Citygreen’s Stratacell system beneath a permeable paving stone surface was developed. Black said the system allowed the introduction of topsoil to the root area and the permeable blocks allowed penetration.
Kevin Donaghey, project manager at SG Landscaping, said the streetscape upgrade involved the installation of bollards, decorative poles, two patio areas and related site furnishings. The project costs around $400,000 with some items ready for completion this Canadian spring. The Citygreen system was used under pavers in high traffic areas where tree plants are in close proximity.
Since the project is still fresh, there hasn’t been time to evaluate the effect on the trees. However, Black is confident it’s all going to turn out as planned.
“Our experience with similar excavations are that the construction damage to the roots was within tolerable levels and the improvement to the growing medium will give this tree an advantage that similarly impacted trees in the past did not have,” he said.
He found that the cells were straightforward to install and “within budget on a cost benefit basis”.
Donaghey echoes the positive feedback with using the Citygreen system, finding the installation quite simple.The presence of a Citygreen representative prior to the start of the project to
discuss installation methods with the crew also helped make the process much easier.
“This system is much better than similar fabric-type systems as it is easier to install and fill with soil and in my opinion, a stronger system overall,” Donaghey said.
“The biggest issue with the project was getting site furnishing delivered on time and having the suppliers live up to their word on delivery. The Stratacell was the only product we used that was delivered on time,” Donaghey said. He is very positive about using the system again in future projects.
Although he added that material cost is a bit higher, the labour involved to install the product is cheaper. “With the high cost of labour here, overall it was a little cheaper,” he said.