Dripping Springs Ranch Park Event Center is located in a 95-acre City-owned park. The proposed project consists of an approximate 150,000 SF arena with associated parking, utility improvements and water quality pond. Primitive camping, hiking trails and a horse trail are included in the park amenities. The site is located in the environmentally-sensitive Little Barton Creek Watershed and is entirely in the Edwards Aquifer contributing zone. Portions of the site are within the FEMA 100-year floodplain. The earthwork will require cuts and fills of less than 6 feet.
Most of the existing trees on the site are proposed to be saved. Retaining walls with the maximum height of 5 feet are proposed at two sides of the parking area to save the trees. On site excavated boulders are proposed to be used for the construction of the retaining walls. Water service to the proposed event center will be provided by the Dripping Springs Water Supply Corporation. The site plan also includes extension of water service to RV sites. Wastewater service will be extended to the site from the City's existing service main. A 2,500-gallon tank dump station is proposed for the RV vehicles and trailers. Waste from the dump station will conveyed to the event center's discharge line.
Doucet was responsible for renovating the former Tokyo Electron site into Austin Energy's new operation control center. Improvements included a 36,000 SF building expansion, a new 11,000 SF vehicle service building, new service drives, an additional 150 vehicle parking lot, and restoration to existing parking areas. Doucet provided all site/civil engineering design, permitting, and construction administration services. In addition, Doucet successfully coordinated with the City's development review staff in order to retrofit the existing site to meet the Subchapter E Commercial Design Standards and worked with the project team through programming options. Our team also completed construction documents for all site/civil improvements such as ADA accessible sidewalks, parking and service drives, site grading, storm drains, water, wastewater, and the retrofit and expansion of an existing sand filter pond into a biofiltration water quality pond. The project included several pavement designs, restoration, and construction strategies to provide value and function to Austin Energy. Doucet designed and implemented new concrete pavement for Austin Energy service vehicle areas, medium and light duty asphaltic pavement design sections for drive and new parking areas, mill and overly restoration on major existing parking and drives. To finish it off, Doucet restriped all pavement that was in good condition for preventative maintenance and to give it a polished look.
The TCEQ Discharge Permit Application for public viewing can be found here: Brickston - Final Permit Application Brickston - NORI Amended Notice Brickston - Notice of Application and Preliminary Decision
The Capital Metro North Operations and Maintenance Facility is a 110,000 square foot bus and van transit operations center. The site is located on an 18-acre site just north of Hwy. 183 and east of Burnet Road (F.M. 1325). This fast-paced project required programming, design, permitting and construction to be completed in less than 20 months. Several major elements of the project included demolition of existing industrial facilities, solving the public water system's limitations in the area, permitting the site without on-site water quality and detention facilities, re-routing drainage conveyance, and off-site roadway improvements. Doucet was the on-site civil engineer for the project and designed the grading, drainage, parking and drive, and the water and wastewater facilities. During the programming phase, Doucet investigated the potential of using existing off-site water quality and storm water detention facilities. Because Doucet was successful in documenting that the detention and water quality ponds already met City of Austin requirements, we did not have to build any new water quality and storm water detention facilities. This ended up being critical to facilitate the development needs of Capital Metro on the limited site. Doucet also led a detailed study of the City's water distribution system to solve poor fire flow capabilities in the area. Upon systematically breaking down the water distribution system for analysis, Doucet was successful in finding a broken valve on the major transmission main feeding this pressure zone. With the replacement of the broken valve, on-site fire pumps were not required and existing fire pumps and tank storage (supporting existing buildings) could be removed, providing additional use of the area and a tremendous saving on the construction cost. Doucet designed all on-site water, wastewater, storm drainage, and parking and drive facilities and permitted the site through the City of Austin within the Capital Metro Transportation Authority (CMTA) required time frame.
Doucet identified the existing utilities to determine whether the existing utility infrastructure had the capacity to serve the future TOD development in the three study areas. The utility information included water, wastewater, storm drain, electric and gas. Our team coordinated with utility entities and collected utility information from each entity. Afterwards, Doucet delineated the utility information on the City of Austin GIS base map. Upon receiving future land use concepts for each of the three station areas, Doucet coordinated with the City of Austin staff to determine the potential utility requirements for these areas. Doucet then identified potential future utility improvements to meet the TOD development requirements. At the end of this project, Doucet prepared an engineering report and exhibits (which was incorporated into the overall master plan) that documented the results of our findings.
Doucet participated in the programming phase and schematic phase for this new Combined Emergency Communications & Transportation Management Center in Austin, TX. This regional 911 Center houses sophisticated electronic equipment and highly trained emergency communications personnel for the various City of Austin departments and Travis County agencies. The project site is approximately 13 acres consisting of a 72,500 square foot building, a parking lot that can hold 230 cars, and all drainage, water and wastewater improvements. Services included site selection, utility analysis, grading, drainage, detention pond, and water & wastewater improvements. Our role in the project's construction included obtaining the construction permit, performing construction phase services, and preparing construction documents for all the civil and site improvements. Our work required extensive coordination with various governmental agencies' staff. This project achieved the Silver Rating in the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Program.
Doucet designed the grading, drainage, parking, and water and wastewater facilities for the George Washington Carver Museum and Library expansion project. The museum itself encompasses 30,000 SF and the library addition is 15,000 SF. Major elements of the job included designing a storm water detention facility and relocating 500 LF of the city's 24-inch water transmission main to facilitate placement of the new museum. Doucet designed all specifications to adhere to the City of Austin's environmental sustainability building program. In addition, our staff also looked into options to obtain LEED credits for storm water and existing pavement material re-use. Other issues Doucet encountered included inserting a stopping valve into the existing 24-inch line because of faulty valving on the existing system. Doucet successfully coordinated with the city's water and wastewater department and the contractor to install the stopping valve.