Students design church parking lot
PLATTEVILLE - Working with Virgil Pufahl of First English Lutheran Church, University of Wisconsin-Platteville senior design students Sarah Curran, Ryan Stolt and Jesse Schreiner are designing parking lot facilities for the approximately 245 members. Located on the corner of Pine and Chestnut Streets in Platteville, the church had a recent addition in 1999 which is now completed and an off street parking lot must be established to abide by zoning requirements for the city of Platteville.
To begin the project, the students completed a topographical survey of the property to determine the elevation and potential available space for the parking lots. They came up with four unique design layouts and after meeting with the church council ultimately choose an option allowing for two lots located south and west of the church. "The south lot is one-way with independent entrances and exits and 22 parking stalls at 90 degree angles. The west lot is two-way with a single entrance and exit and would have seven parking stalls at 90 degree angles, three of which would be handicap parking," said Curran. It is estimated that each parking stall costs $800 to $1,000 to construct.
The most controversial issue at this point in the design process concerns drainage plans and runoff from the property. "The current design calls for curb and gutter in the west lot and on two sides of the south lot. The south lot will be sloped to the southeast corner for drainage and an underground pipe would connect the lots so the west lot drains into the south lot," said Stolt. Other options for drainage may include underground piping installation which would require major construction. Commented Schreiner, "It would be possible to tear out sections of property and pipe water to Division Street, but this means connecting the pipe and trench box to drain to the road. There is also a problem with roof drainage to the road. The current peak discharge is three and a half cubic feet per second."
Helping the students meet these criteria have been civil engineering professors Dr. Sam Owusu-Ababio and Dr. Thomas Nelson. "Dr. Sam has been helpful technically and can recite many of the necessary codes off the top of his head. When we don't have access to certain references he is very helpful," said Schreiner. Added Curran, "Nelson has tons of field experience and knows a lot of people - many times he will supply us with names of people we can contact for help when we have questions or are stuck on a certain aspect of the project."
The students agree that UWP is one of the top ranked engineering schools in the nation and has a reputation in the industry for being an excellent higher learning institution. They especially like the first name basis and open door policy that professors have with their students.
Curran, Stolt and Schreiner are civil engineering majors with emphases in transportation and construction from Merrill, Bloomer and Spring Green respectively. After May graduation, Curran will work for Kiewit Western Construction Company in Phoenix, Arizona. Stolt will work for Gilbert Southern Corporation in Miami, Florida; and Schreiner will work for SEH, Inc. of Madison.
Contact: Dr. Sam Owusu-Ababio, Civil Engineering, (608) 342-1554, owusu@uwplatt.edu Prepared by: Rachael Lehr, Public Relations, (608) 342-1194,lehrr@uwplatt.edu
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