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El Paso Zoo Chihuahuan Desert Exhibit

The El Paso Zoo is a 35-acre facility that houses animals representing over 220 species, including critically endangered species. Accredited by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA), the El Paso Zoo celebrates the value of animals and natural resources and creates opportunities for people to rediscover their connection to nature. The Chihuahuan Desert Exhibit showcases North America’s most diverse desert that encompasses the El Paso and Northern Mexico regions. The exhibit tells the story of the Chihuahuan Desert giving visitors the opportunity to experience not only the land, but the animals that surround them every day. Illustrating the habitat of an El Paso Texas Backyard, El Paso Zoo director Steve Marshall states “Our central goal with the new Chihuahuan Desert Exhibit is to inspire our visitors to go explore these biomes in our nearby, fantastic National and State Parks and even their own backyards – where they can make a personal, incredible impact on conservation.”

PGAV Destinations, a global attraction and exhibit design firm, worked on this mega million-dollar project that encompasses just 2.3 acres. “One of the greatest challenges of El Paso’s new exhibit space is incorporating an expansive set of animals into just over two acres, while ensuring that it is beautiful, tells a rich and cohesive story, and is healthy for the animals,” said John Kemper, vice president PGAV Destinations. “By overcoming that challenge, we intend to instill wonder in guests at the vast biodiversity in their own backyards and inspire them to explore the nearby wilderness and take action in conservation.”

With plans in place and everyone working towards the same design goals, Bomanite Artistic Concrete & Pools worked with PGAV Destinations and the El Paso Zoo on the decorative concrete surfaces that consisted of three different styles of implementation. To achieve the desert landscape with the natural ecosystem of plants and animals, natural stone patterns and aggregates were chosen. As Visitors enter the exhibit they come through a recreated arroyo (a dry riverbed, which in nature, floods with water during times of heavy rain), The Bomacron Garden Stone pattern with a natural English slate texture consists of varying sizes of stones that range from ½” x 1” up to 15” x 21” providing a realistic approach to replicating the desert rock riverbed landscape of boulders down to small pebbles. A total of 15,000 square feet of imprinted concrete pattern was installed using Bomanite Sand Integral Color for the base along with varying Bomanite Color Hardeners of Autumn Brown and Forrest Brown. A Bomanite Clear Sealer was applied for future protection from the outdoor elements.

Visitors are greeted with a Mexican Grey Wolf sculpture by artist Andy Dufford. The exhibit design was carefully composed to preserve a large number of existing mature trees; which, along with ample new shade structures, make the area comfortable and inviting while maintaining sustainability goals. An essential part of the overall geography and lifelike scene was an implemented 45’ mountain, inspired by the nearby Hueco Tanks State Park & Historic Site. To reveal the power and dangers of storms in the nearby deserts, the mountain recirculates 10,000 gallons of water every five minutes to simulate a flash flood. The central habitat of the mountain range is home to jaguars and mountain lions, which allows the zoo to be able to rotate animals through the exhibits and be visible from all sides. A mesh barrier separates the big cats from habitats at the base of the mountain where numerous herbivores graze among native plants, all seemingly inhabiting the same exhibit.

An additional feature of walking paths invite visitors to pass beneath two abandoned bridges that allow jaguars to cross between the mountain and their individual exhibit spaces. The native desert trail of 850 sq.ft. was composed of a Natural Exposed Aggregate Concrete Finish that winds its way in and out of areas and directs visitors also to covered viewing bridge decks. The dilapidated designed bridges provide shade and viewing areas of many other animals such as the Harris Hawk, Thick-billed Parrot, Ocelot and the White Nose Coati. The Bomacron 6” Random Boardwalk pattern was used with Autumn Brown Color Hardener and a Walnut Brown Bomanite Release Agent. To give it that worn aged look accents in Forest Brown were added and then the 717 sq. ft. of textured and imprinted concrete was given a final seal.

Bomanite Imprint Systems is a cast-in-place concrete that adds a distinctive architectural touch to any project, that also incorporates durability to stand up to the toughest traffic loads and environmental conditions. You can choose from many natural textures including slate, granite, limestone, sandstone, cobblestone, used brick and wood to upgrade plain concrete or asphalt, or alternatively reduce the cost and maintenance of natural paving materials and simulate real world habitats. To visit the zoo and view the animals virtually visit http://www.elpasozoo.org/zoo-cameras

AWARDS: Bomanite Artistic Concrete received the Best Bomanite Imprint Systems 2019 Silver Award for their creative native habitat work on the El Paso Chihuahuan Desert Exhibit

Tower Plaza Hartford, CT

Connecticut Bomanite Licensee worked with Hoffman Architects and the general contractor Downes Construction to install several Bomanite Imprint System Patterns throughout the pavilion of the commercial buildings located in Hartford, CT.

With little over an acre, the Bomanite Basketweave Brick Pattern (no texture) and Bomacron Medium Ashlar Slate pattern were installed with the traditional Bomanite Color Hardener and Releases to provide durablity, excellent wear resistance and fade resistance. Bomanite Color Hardener is the most effective coloring method to achieve your desired results in the installation of Bomanite and Bomacron Imprinted concrete surfaces.

This large project took over 73 concrete pours to complete a total of 46,574 square feet. The plaza and Pedestrian Bridge required replacement of the paving, drains, lighting and waterproofing and modification of the existing guardrail to make it code compliant. Hoffmann Architects were retained to redesign the plaza, addressing structural and functional concerns. Design professionals provided conceptual design development, schematic design, contract documents, and construction administration services for a full plaza and pedestrian bridge reconstruction, from waterproofing and paving to lighting and seating.

Connecticut Bomanite Systemsinstalled the Bomanite decorative concrete with 31,450 square feet of the Bomanite Basketweave Brick pattern with an individual stone size of 4” x 8” that established the majority of the plaza area design. The Bomanite Basketweave Brick pattern has a smooth surface and is a great replacement for worn out paving and masonry units.

6,468 square feet of the Bomacron Medium Ashlar Slate Pattern was incorporated into the overall plaza surface design along with an integrally colored gray band surrounding the Ashlar Slate pattern. The Medium Ashlar Slate pattern was also used within the Pedestrian Bridge and wheelchair access ramps. An additional 8,656 square feet of of saw- cuts were performed as well. Several areas contain the new drainage system that works smartly with the overall design.

Connecticut Bomanite Systems earned the 2018 Bomanite Imprint Systems Bronze Award for their laboring and detailed work for this plaza renovation using Bomanite Decorative Concrete.

Grand Rios Waterpark

PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS/INFORMATION

Description:

Bomanite Licensed Contractor, Bulach Custom Rock, create handicap accessible ramps for one of the Midwest’s Largest Indoor Waterparks in Greater Minneapolis/St Paul, Minnesota.

Bulach Custom Rock scope of work included the set up and pour of approximately 11,000 sq.ft. of Bomcaron Imprinted Concrete with one 70’ handicap ramp, one 30’ handicap ramp with monolithic bridge, pan steps, a 60’ walking bridge, and two 8 riser sets of steps, along with over 2,000 lineal feet of Steigmeier pool coping poured monolithically with the deck.

Bomacron Slate Texture areas were poured using Bomanite Coquina Color hardener for the base color, then the areas were accented using a specialty color, Bulach Bronze, developed by Bomanite. Once these areas were imprinted, the pool coping was finished using a Bulach Bronze slurry and given a light sand finish. The pool copings were finished while there was water in the pools and river. This portion of the work was completed using a duck boat tied off in different areas. The Bomacron wood plank pattern areas were poured using a Taupe Integral color. These areas were stained the following day with Bomanite Forest Brown Con-Color.

The water park posed additional challenges, such as; designing a monolithic concrete ramp and bridge to accommodate wheelchairs to the upper hot tub, pouring of concrete using 5-gallon buckets due to inaccessibility of pumps or other delivery systems caused by water factors, and working to assure the slope of the decks flowed to over 1,000 feet of deco drain and 27’ panned floor drains. Bulach Custom Rock utilized their skills and expertise knowledge to overcome the challenges and provide the client with the final product.