LASN is a photographically oriented, professional journal featuring topics of concern and state-of-the-art projects designed or influenced by registered Landscape Architects.
Issue link: https://landscapearchitect.epubxp.com/i/107181
49ers Stadium Bioretention by Steven H. Miller, CDT Top San Francisco 49ers' new stadium complex has a bio-retention system that collects and treats runoff for more than five acres of concrete parking lot. Because it was on the critical path of site development, there was heavy time pressure to install the system before virtually any other construction could begin. Top, Overlay This detail shows the cutaway elevation of a bio-retention cell used on the 49ers' stadium. Runoff percolates through the layers of mulch and bio-filtration media, to filter pollutants. Drain rock surrounds the perforated pipe that collects treated water at the bottom of the cell. Increasingly, government legislation, city ordinances and even homeowners associations are either mandating (or encouraging) the reduction of pollution in runoff. By understanding and designing simple natural ways to clean run off water, landscape architects can both increase their company profits while protecting the environment. The bioretention project at new San Francisco 49ers Stadium provides an excellent example of a simple runoff mitigation system that uses the power of nature to achieve its purpose. Ghilotti Construction and 2nd Phase contactor Turner-Devcon, build a bio-retention project for the new San Francisco 49ers Stadium to handle runoff for more than five acres of concrete. A large construction project such as a major 136 Landscape Architect and Specifier News league sports stadium can include significant expanses of runoff-generating hardscape. A venue capable of seating 60,000 or 70,000 people requires large parking areas. Draining that area effectively and treating the runoff was the goal of this project. The new San Francisco 49ers Stadium in Santa Clara, California facility will eventually feature vast expanses of parking for attendees and employees, but first it needed a parking lot for construction activities. The stormwater solution for that primary staging-area was the first thing that needed to be constructed for the project. To meet the need there and in other hardscapes surrounding stadium facility, designers selected a low-impact development (LID) solution that also provides an aesthetic solution: a modular bioretention system that