Livernois Streetscape Enhancements – Site/Civil Engineering Design / Construction Administration

Project Overview

The City of Detroit’s Department of Public Works – Complete Streets Division announced that seven key commercial corridors had been systematically identified as roadways that would benefit from a reconfigured streetscape based on these “complete streets” design principles. The first of these streetscape projects to officially begin was Livernois Ave between Margareta Street and 8 Mile Road.

This area of Livernois Ave has been nicknamed the “Avenue of Fashion.” NTH was retained to provide the construction plans and specifications to give Detroit’s “Avenue of Fashion” a complete makeover based on proven civil engineering designs and site layout practices.

NTH provided geotechnical investigations to determine soil conditions and feasibility of bioretention facilities on-site.

NTH’s findings confirmed that bioretention areas would be a practical, sustainable way to manage stormwater runoff by infiltrating captured stormwater back into the soil. These geotechnical investigations also helped determine the behavior or the subgrade beneath the proposed roadway which factored into the pavement design.

Since the roadway was being completely redesigned, NTH was able to create a new geometric design for the roadway’s vertical curves, which changed the stormwater flow regime substantially. NTH created utility plans that captured the runoff and decreased flooding, which was an issue previously. This new storm sewer layout had to tie-in with the previous sewer layout, and NTH was able to incorporate existing utilities and connections where possible, and NTH routed the new utilities in an efficient way that avoided many potential conflicts. These stormwater routes were refined by performing hydraulic and hydrologic analyses to ensure that the previous roadway drainage design would adequately serve the re-configured roadway design.

Project Scope

NTH provided construction administration and as site conditions varied and new information was taken into account during construction, NTH provided several updated construction and grading plans as dictated by these unforeseen conditions.

Client Benefit:

NTH’s diverse, in-house team of civil professionals were able to accomplish each of the various aspects of this major design under a very demanding project delivery schedule. NTH has extensive knowledge of the City of Detroit permitting requirements and local design standards, as well as existing relationships with City of Detroit officials. Our expertise ultimately saved time and money for the contractor and the owner by being responsive to the sometimes-unpredictable nature of the construction process. NTH’s adaptability and responsiveness kept the project on track during the height of construction season.