EHRA was selected as one of two firms to provide professional surveying services under contract to Houston Community College System.
EHRA performed preliminary drainage area delineations for nine creek crossings and calculated approximate 100-year flows for each culvert crossing. Culvert structures were sized for each of the six crossings, ranging from 48” round pipe culverts up to dual 5’x5’ box culverts.
EHRA offered its Landscape Architectural services to complete a Parks and Trails Master Plan for the District.
EHRA completed preliminary engineering, phase one environmental site assessment and schematic development for the widening of Northpark Dr. between US 59 and Woodland Hills Dr. EHRA also provided program management, drainage analysis and design, traffic engineering, environmental documentation and schematic design for the roadway, as well as grade separation at the Loop 494/UPRR railroad crossing.
EHRA conducted traffic operations and access management studies for the Northpark Dr. corridor. This corridor is approximately 2.2 miles long and has major signalized and unsignalized intersections and driveways that access various subdivisions and industrial developments. These studies laid the groundwork for the widening of Northpark Dr. from a four-lane boulevard cross-section to a six-lane boulevard complete street. The new street design includes low impact development drainage, conventional drainage, a grade separation at the UPRR crossing with mechanically stabilized earth retaining walls, two at-grade crossings for bi-directional frontage access, reconstruction of two concrete bridges over a diversion channel, intersection improvements, a roadway-adjacent multiuse path and traffic signal improvements.
Drainage analysis and design included hydrologic and hydraulic studies of both existing and proposed conditions to demonstrate that proposed project components would not adversely affect the 100-year floodplain in the area. The roadway and traffic designs contained horizontal and vertical alignments, cross-sections, plan and profile, sidewalk and bicycle accommodations, intersection layouts, traffic control plans and signing and pavement markings.
As the program management firm, EHRA coordinated with TxDOT, UPRR, the City of Houston Council District E, COH Planning and Development Department, COH Public Works and Engineering Department, Montgomery County, Harris County, HCFCD and area residents throughout the project.
Identified as a top priority during the development of the District’s Parks Master Plan, this portion of trail was the first phase of over two miles of planned trails to provide connectivity and recreation for District residents.
EHRA Engineering was contracted to perform surveying and mapping services for Stockdick School Road in November of 2020. The project scope included existing Right-of-Way (ROW) and topographic surveying along with proposed alignment and parcel mapping of the area. This involved obtaining current deeds and plats for 25 tracts of land and seven subdivisions. EHRA prepared a working sketch to recover the existing boundary corners needed to establish existing ROW lines. The results were utilized in preparing a traditional Category 1B Standard Land Survey, identifying the project’s boundary limits.
EHRA established survey control within approximately 14,800 linear feet of roadway and performed a Category 6 Topographic Survey of the existing roadway for the engineering design of a new major thoroughfare. EHRA created a Survey Control Map for the project limits and then prepared a Category 1A Land Title Survey for an Alignment and Parcel Map. The Alignment and Parcel Map was set with metes and bounds descriptions for 13 parcels of land to be acquired for widening the existing road ROW.
The project warranted for maximum organization due to its size and complexity. Maintenance of a focused, conscientious effort by all involved was pertinent to the project’s smooth and successful execution. EHRA utilized its current technology to the most-effective level of production within the project restraints while performing all proposed services under a time and material contract for approximately 80% of the budget.
The greatest obstacle the team had to overcome was the adaptation to county standards using a differing drafting technology than our standard platform.
The EHRA surveying team working with additional engineering firms on a critical public project was an exciting and unaccustomed experience. The project presented the opportunity to build skills internally with our field and office staff as well as further their education and overall experience. Transportation projects like this require a breadth of surveying services on a large scale to develop professional service skills that stretch beyond EHRA's standard product. Working with outside engineering firms provided insight into whether our survey standards are acceptable to others, and what we can do better or different in all future projects.