BH Class Blog

This project was very in depth and a little insane at times. As engineers, it isn't very often you actually get to choose what type of building/business you are going to be designing. This was a little far fetched, but I liked the freedom it gave us. Even though we didn't take it too seriously, I think the soil tests were very realistic. I could see where that would be very relevant to a civil engineer's design of a project. Throughout the design and implementation of our building, I changed very little. From my bubble diagrams to my renderings, the same basic idea was maintained. If I was to do this again, I would think less like a civil engineer and more like an architect. I choose to build my building so that it would be functional, not pretty. I think I could do a better job of combing the two if I did it again. I think this is also what I learned throughout the project. My tendencies lean toward civil engineer. While I do enjoy good architecture, I focus more on how it works. I'm definitely glad to be done with everything and am really looking forward to the mystery of next year!

Based on the test we did of the soil, we determined that the soil has high clay content. The water percolation test showed that nearly no water drained through the soil. When we separated the dry smashed soil, we found that there were very few rocks and very little sand. The test we did with the mud showed that it is very pliable and sticky. It help moisture very well.

Water supply:
500 ppd * 50 gpd = 25000 gpd

Water runoff:
In general, the addition of a large parking lot will create drainage problems and a retention pond is often necessary to control the flow of water. Luckily, there is an existing pond on the property so drainage due to the addition of a parking lot should not be an issue.

Waste Water:
Because we are near the school, there is already a sewer system run out this direction. We will be able to tie into that and pay for usage.

The actual estimate of this building is unknown. If I had to estimate the cost I would say it would be around $427,936. Part of why this is so expensive is the roof line that exceeds 40'. This is a neat aesthetic feature and will make for some awesome sledding, but it also increases price.