CHALLENGE

The existing Cleveland Clinic Hospital located in Avon, Ohio needed to expand in order to continue meeting the health care needs of its community. As a result, the Clinic identified that they needed to build a new, multi-story bed tower. The by-product of this new bed tower is a massive increase in needed surface parking. A challenge the design team faced is that adjacent to the parking lot is a wetland bank. Due to the requirements relative to wetland mitigation, the design team cannot allow any stormwater runoff into the wetlands. A secondary challenge faced by the design team was to stay on budget.

INFLUENCE

There were many design options carefully considered for the parking lot – like a parking garage to limit vehicular footprint. A cost analysis was completed between creating a parking garage structure versus permeable pavements and it was found that additional infrastructure and framework would be needed for the garage versus none for a permeable paving system. It was decided that a permeable interlocking concrete paver system was the most cost effective in the short and long term for Cleveland Clinic.

SOLUTION

The design team came to the conclusion that paver, Eco-Optiloc, was the perfect choice to fit project requirements. Eco-Optiloc has a unique design that creates small voids between the
pavers providing drainage into the sub-base, infiltrating rainfall into the sub-soil. Although Eco-Optiloc has proven superior drainage capabilities, it also has the ability to handle heavy vehicular and truck traffic. The patented “L” shaped design allows you for a superior lock-up that can withstand even the heaviest of loads. The ultimate benefit of using Eco-Optiloc is its cost effective installation rates. Contractor, Gator Construction, Inc., worked closely with Unilock specialists and general site contractor, Precision Engineering and Contracting, Inc., on the installation which was installed mechanically, ensuring that 8,000-10,000 square feet of paving was installed per day. The labor savings combined with the permeable pavers provided the most cost effective solution on this project.