The expansion and redesign of Bellevue’s Downtown Park was a long-time vision for civic leaders. Belarde Company installed a variety of stairs, sidewalks, and plazas throughout the multi-acre site.
A key architectural concrete feature is what appears to be a small wooden bridge at the Children’s Inspiration Park area. At closer inspection the bridge is made of concrete. The bridge planks and sides highlight the Bomacron “12” Boardwalk” pattern from the Bomanite Imprint Systems. The installation of a horizontal concrete imprinted surface by itself is fairly straightforward. However, constructing all the surfaces to replicate wooden planks required special attention to detail. Constructing the bridge required a monolithic horizontal and vertical concrete pour, strip color, imprint and finish process. Even the ends of the ‘planks’ utilized the Bomanite system. In addition, the bridge was embedded in the banks of an artificial stream water “Splash Pad” play area. Belarde Company constructed the stream bed using a hand-seeded multi-colored glass and aggregates system on its surface.
The project presented several challenges beyond the multiple surfaces of the bridge. The project had a very aggressive schedule. The owner, the City of Bellevue, was adamant that the project had to be completed before their annual Fourth of July Celebration which had been held at the Downtown Bellevue Park for over 30 years. Adding to the schedule constraints and to the inherent difficulties of installing various architectural concrete systems, Bellevue recorded its wettest winter ever! The Belarde Company team built a temporary tent structure over the bridge’s work area to adapt to the rain ensuring that a high-quality project would be delivered on time. By working closely with the City of Bellevue and Design Concepts, Belarde Company’s experience, attention to detail, and ability to coordinate, ensured the satisfaction of all parties and more importantly, a unique playground that the children visiting this unique interactive play area in Bellevue can enjoy for years to come.
To learn more about the Bellevue Park: https://bellevuewa.gov/city-government/departments/parks/parks-and-trails/parks/bellevue-downtown-park
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.
When the City of Temecula, CA. wanted to create their new Main Street Bridge they reached out to Bomanite Licensee, T. B. Penick & Sons, Inc. to assist them in constructing a bridge that was both functional and would increase the decorative enhancement to the old town feel. The bridge is located in Old Town Temecula, where today there are still real wood walkways throughout the town.
The City wanted the bridge to look like it belonged with the theme of the surrounding area. In addition to the style of the bridge they wanted to create a safer walking space for pedestrians, since this is a high traffic area by adding 10 foot sidewalks along each side of the bridge.
TBP was awarded this project because they were able to adhere to the design that the city wanted. They wanted to continue the look of and feel of real wood throughout the bridge. they were able to achieve this by utilizing various lengths of Bomanite’s Boardwalk pattern as well as Bomanite’s Ashlar Slate Bomacron pattern.
The bridge was poured over a steel truss structure that required two large pours at 8” thick. The adjacent sidewalks required 2 pours at 4” thick and the adjacent flatwork leading up to the bridge was poured in multiple pours. The overall bridge is 152 feet long and 47 feet wide including 2-10 foot exterior sidewalks. The bridge now looks like it belongs in old town Temecula and is in use today.
Photo Credit: Justin Watt Photography
PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS/INFORMATION
Description:
The NE 36th Street Bridge earned Bomanite Licensee, Belarde Co. Inc. a 2012 Decorative Concrete Award from the American Society for Concrete Contractors’ Decorative Concrete Council in the category of Artistry, Over 5,000 Sq.Ft. Upon entering or exiting the bridge, drivers navigate around a custom-colored, Bomanite stamped concrete roundabout that directs the flow of traffic. Alongside the roadways, pebble-studded concrete paths, a curving, sloping wall, complete the look of a river bank.
“The concrete elements of this are so unique,” says John Belarde, president of Belarde Co. Their success in pulling it off, he says, was partly thanks to their skills as a company and partly thanks to the clarity and specificity of the design concept.
Tanja Wilcox, senior associate at Seattle architecture firm J.A. Brennan Associates and aesthetic designer for the project, had her work cut out for her when developing a design concept for the bridge. Although the client was the city of Redmond, a lot of the money for the project was funded by Microsoft Corp. — because their main corporate campus sits on both sides of the 520. The overall objective, says Wilcox, was to transform the overpass into an enjoyable environment for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. But the bridge also had to celebrate Redmond as a city, while giving a nod to its patron and beneficiary, Microsoft.
Wilcox and her team conceived a design that evokes the Sammamish River, that winds through the heart of Redmond, just north of the bridge site. By incorporating native plants and materials as well as subtle river motifs, like that of the Bomacron Creek Stone pattern, the design expresses Redmond’s beautiful natural surroundings.
View More: To read the full article and more projects from Belarde Co:
