Boggy Creek Trail - City of Austin

Numerous mature oak trees were located along the trail route.  For areas where the project encroached on the critical root zone of trees, RPS designed diamond patterned pier supports to keep the trail above the top of the roots. This root bridging design was shared with other engineers working on similar urban trails as a go-by for the design and construction of a cost-effective series of piers and reinforcement to relieve pressure on the root system of nearby trees.

The City of Austin wanted to add illumination to the project route.  RPS designed and permitted lighting standards that aligned with the maintenance department's requests for future fixture repair/replacement options.  Our team also coordinated the connection of the system to the Austin Energy areas along the project route.

The trail included sections of retaining wall necessary to provide an ADA compliant route.  The RPS team sampled soil data, provided an analysis of the structural support of the soil and retaining walls and designed walls that were certified for resisting the forces of waters within the 100-year floodplain. 

The trail included both a shared use path and pedestrian route, parallel to each other.  To differentiate the two, the design included a terracotta section with saw cut joints for bicyclists and a typical grey concrete section for pedestrians.  The saw cut joints were designed to control cracking and provide a smoother riding surface for bicyclist and those in wheelchairs.