Located in the heart of Memorial Park, the 100-acre Land Bridge & Prairie project is one of the largestand most ambitious projects of its type in the country.Memorial Park is a 1,464-acre park
–one of the largest urban parks in the United States and Houston’slargest wilderness area. In 1955, the six-lane Memorial Drive was built; it dissected the park into twoparts and made it difficult, if not impossible, for pedestrians to traverse the park, made the park lessecologically resilient, and disrupted habitat and migration for dozens of species. Now, 67 years later, theLand Bridge & Prairie project reconnects and mends the divided park.
The project consists of four spacious tunnels, two in each direction of traffic measuring 300 and 460 feet long respectively, which together enable over 55,000 cars each day to pass below the massive earthen Land Bridge. The four tunnels were constructed of 620 separate prefabricated concrete panel arches that resolve at each end with geometrically pure cast-in-place elliptical headwalls. Drivers enter and leave the well-lit tunnels through these crisply framed openings which offer striking views of the Houston sky and sweeping vistas of the Prairie. Subsuming the six-lane highway that has bisected Memorial Park since the 1950’s, the Land Bridge tunnels are blanketed with layers of soil, plantings and hardscape to create new park land that rises up and over the noisy roadway, re-connecting the north and south halves of the park. The earthen blanket of the Land Bridge effectively diminishes traffic noise, improving the experiences of pedestrian visitors and non-human inhabitants of the Park.
The Coastal Prairie is one of the most endangered ecosystems in North America, with less than 1% of its historic range remaining today. The Land Bridge & Prairie project will create over 45 acres of Coastal Prairie in the center of Memorial Park, helping to strengthen the surrounding ecologies and bring Houstonians an immersive opportunity to experience and appreciate this critical native ecology. The Prairie will be home to numerous significant and endangered species of flora and fauna and will provide essential food and shelter for migratory birds and insects. It will provide cumulative benefits forgenerations. The Land Bridge and Prairie is designed to withstand storms and process stormwater while providing a healthy environment for people and animals. Soils and over 200 native species of trees, shrubs, and deep-rooted Coastal Prairie plants have been selected for resiliency and their ability to slow and store stormwater in carefully calibrated channels and wetlands. This soil-deep rehabilitated ecology will sequester atmospheric carbon, provide cleaner air, and improve animal and insect habitat.
Team:
Architect: Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects
Photography: Nick Hubbard
Structural Engineering: Walter P Moore
Stormwater Management Consultant: Freese and Nichols
Light Design Consultant: Gandy² Lighting Design
Soil Science Consultant: Olsson
Pavilion and Bird Blind Fabrication Documents, and Construction Management: METALAB
General Contractor: Tellepsen Builders
Environmental Consultant: Berg-Oliver Associates
Lead Civil Engineer: Gunda Corporation
Project Management: Texas Project Administration Services
Irrigation Consultants: James Pole Irrigation Consultants
MEP: Hunt and Hunt Engineering Corp.
Signage Design Consultant: Minor Design
Material Used:
1. Boardwalk Decking: Southern Yellow Pine with Natural Oak Stein, York Timber Protective Systems
2. Overlook Pavilion: Powder Coated Steel and Douglas Fir with Eco Wood Stain, Renfrow Co
3. Bird Blind Pods: Painted Steel and Cypress with Shou Sugi Ban Finish, Iron Access
4. Benches: Corten Steel and Thermal Ash, Renfrow Co
5. Lighting:
Pole light fixtures, Bega
Bollard light fixtures, we-ef
6. Bike Racks: Statuary Bronze Powder Coated Steel, Renfrow Co
7. Water Fountain: Elkay Drinking Fountains
8. Waste Receptacles: Victor Stanley Inc
