Construction of Cape Horn Trail Pedestrian Tunnel Improvements

Construction is underway on two pedestrian tunnels to improve safety for users of the eight mile Cape Horn Trail, which currently crosses heavily traveled State Route 14 twenty-six miles east of Vancouver, WA(Mile post 24.8 and 26.5). The Cape Horn Trail is a popular trail for its spectacular views of the Columbia River Gorge. GreenWorks, working with Wallis Engineering, provided the design for the stone facing of the tunnel facades. The tunnel facades use local quarried basalt stone and have been designed to fit with other historic examples of stone masonry within the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. To quote the Washington Trails Association, ‘The Cape Horn Trail is about to become one of the prized jewels of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.’

This WSDOT project was made possible by funding provided by Western Federal Lands Highway Division. Other construction related to the project will improve safety on SR14 in this area by straightening curves and adding turning lanes. The General contractor for the project is Rotschy, Inc and stone masonry work is being provided by Custom Masonry, Inc.

To learn more about the project, please visit the following websites:

http://www.wta.org/trail-news/signpost/cape-horn-campaign

http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/projects/sr14/capehornsafety

Oregon City's Jughandle Project Breaks Ground

Oregon City’s Jughandle Project broke ground last week kicking off construction for a project that aims to improve safety and reduce traffic congestion on Highway 213 at the I-205 interchange.  GreenWorks joined the City of Oregon City, ODOT, the Federal Highway Administration, METRO, Clackamas County, OBEC Consulting Engineers, and MOWAT Construction for the celebration last week in Oregon City.   GreenWorks developed planting and irrigation plans for this gateway into Oregon City. More information can be found here: http://www.jughandleproject.com/

Congrats to our teammates and the organizations involved that make this project a success, one that improves Highway 213 while building the area’s infrastructure and facilitating future economic growth. “

International Living City Design Competition - People's Choice Award

The Living City Design Competition award winners were announced.  Of the 80 teams that participated, our team's submission "Symbiotic Districts: Towards a Balanced City" won a People's Choice Award.  This is an excerpt of the announcement from the International Living Future Institute's site:

The International Living Future Institute today announced the winners of the Living City Design Competition, which it hosted in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, at Living Future ‘11.  The competition called for teams worldwide to create powerful visualizations of how existing cities might be transformed to achieve and transcend the Living Building Challenge 2.0, the built environment’s most rigorous performance standard.

More than 80 teams submitted entries, addressing 69 different cities spanning 21 countries. Submissions were evaluated based on their ability to capture the attention and imagination of a broad audience and reassess assumptions about a future filled with high-tech, ecologically dislocated cities. Rather than constructing new cities from scratch, submissions also focused on the premise that a “living” future will rely on retrofitting the existing built environment and regenerating the evolutionary capacity of life.

“Each of the entries represented the crucial first steps in redefining our urban ecosystems and how they work in tandem with their natural environment,” said Jason F. McLennan, CEO of the International Living Future Institute and a member of the seven-person jury panel that selected the winners.  “This process was at least as important as the impressive end results.”

The team was led by ZGF and the Portland Sustainability Institute and included CH2M Hill, David Evans and Associates, Newlands and Company, Inc., Portland State University, Institute for Sustainable Solutions, and Sparling.

Congratulations to all our teammates on well deserved recognition.