Driving Towards Twenty-First Century Efficiency

The award-winning Greater Richmond Transit Company in Va. redefined mass transit by moving and its old facility to a new LEED silver certified, state-of-the-art center.

By Dani Smith

Fleet maintenance has always been a driving force in American culture and, as the oldest mass transit company in the nation, the Greater Richmond Transit Company (GRTC) has been a major player since it first began. For over a century, the GRTC operated effectively for the city of Richmond, Virginia.

However, as the populous continued to grow and the city continued to expand, it became clear that the old turn-of-thecentury facility was experiencing difficulty in keeping up with managing fleet maintenance, storage and routing structures. It was time for a new facility – one that would not only suffice for today, but would be built with the future in mind.

With forward-thinking ideals about a new facility, its sustainable capabilities were a serious consideration since its inception. "Under the direction of their CEO, John Lewis and their facilities manager, Stephen McNally, it was determined that it was critical that this facility reflect the emerging trends in meeting public transportation needs, especially those [which] point to the growing need to be responsive to environmental sustainability," said Robert Easter, the principal architect from KEI architects who designed the project. This strong commitment to sustainability resulted in a decision that the new bus operations and maintenance facility would be built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver certification.

After it was established that these new facilities would be environmentally efficient, the quest for the new site began. However, the team experienced a few challenges along the way, beginning with selecting the right location. The site needed to be large enough to house the bus maintenance and storage facilities as well as its new corporate headquarters while still taking into consideration a number of other factors. "Multiple factors had to be taken into consideration, including the site location versus the centroid of operations, purchase costs (as this was a federally funded project), adequate site size and configuration and urban renewal impacts," said Michael T. Lee, project manager, vice president and national transit director for maintenance facilities from Gannett Fleming Inc, the engineer of the project. After an exhausting search, the team was able to find a 12-acre lot that met all the requirements. However, the site was not perfect and some problems needed to be addressed before construction could begin.

The site was littered with asbestos debris from old demolished building s that once occupied the lot. "Prior to the new construction, extensive soil sampling and testing and subsequent remediation had to take place for surface and near-surface asbestos contamination," said Lee. "During construction, air monitoring, sampling and additional asbestos remediation then needed to be performed," he continued. "Clean-up of the site allowed for productive new land use — important to the city's overall master plan and sustainability program," said Stephen Thomas, executive vice president of Vanasse Hangen Brustlin Inc. (VHB), the civil engineer of the project. Not only was abating the asbestos necessary for construction, it helped earn two points toward the project's LEED silver certification.

Another challenge the project posed during its design was the location of a large underground water line that bisected the site and was connected to an above ground water storage tank located to the north of the site. "The primary challenge that we encountered was the site (itself). It is a long, rectilinear site that had a utility easement running diagonally across the middle, explained Easter. "This impacted site development where the efficient movement of large articulated buses on the site determined the placement of critical components of the building. Separation of secured transit vehicle storage from public and staff parking reduced the buildable area of the site and essentially formed the building footprint." While it was initially thought that the utility easement would be unable to relocate, which would mean construction would be unable to progress, upon later inspection it was determined that the line could be moved 10ft. to better accommodate the administration building. The contractor, Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. led by vice president, Jeff Boehm, successfully moved the line and began construction the buildings for the new GRTC.

The $37 million project broke ground on January 29, 2008 but faced some minor problems in relation to the site's access. Located on a restricted urban site, entry to the site was limited. However, the team, working in tandem with nearby commercial businesses and the city, was able to re-activate two former right of ways for site access and continue constructing the projects. And in relation to the actual routing systems themselves, VHB, the project's civil engineer, working in relation with the city layout and the site location was able to determine the best routes for bus operators. "With VHB's help, the GRTC overcame access constraints of the facility in relation with where the majority of the ridership is located," said Thomas.

"VHB's knowledge of the local context and routing assistance helped to minimize the negative impacts of this issue and maximize the operational efficiency to overcome this challenge."

On April 30, 2010, the project was completed; six weeks ahead of schedule and $1.8 million under budget. "Howard Shockey & Sons was a part of a great team effort. Everyone knew what was expected, and everyone knew how to perform his or her job well… the project, as a whole, finished ahead of schedule and under budget," said Boehm.

Winner of multiple awards including, Best of the Best in the industrial category of McGraw-Hill Construction's Best of the Best awards in 2010, Best Industrial Facility in 2010 by Engineering News Record and named the best transit company in North America by the American Public Transportation Association, the completed project includes a three story corporate office, a two-story maintenance and operations building and an outdoor bus storage area. Together, these buildings house 560 employees working in operations, maintenance, customer service and administration. Designed to show the GRTC as an out-of-the-box organization, the buildings' overall aesthetic can be described as a contemporary industrial look. "That is the reason the front entry element penetrates the flat façade, protruding above the primary roof height and sloping away from the building as a 'box out of the box,'" Easter explained about the project's design.

The 22,360 square foot administration building is wrapped with a steel panel cladding system with a masonry spine of the rear wall containing the support functions of stairs, restrooms, utility rooms and elevator. It also serves as a sound barrier to muffle the sounds of the nearby bus maintenance building. The maintenance building has two floors that total 98,266 square feet. The first floor is the heart of the maintenance operations with 21 bays that provide bus repairs, shops for bus parts, bus wash and a covered fueling island supported by an underground fuel tank farm. The second floor supports the transportation offices and includes a 3,000 square foot lounge with an outdoor patio.

Completed with energy efficiency and sustainability in the forefront of development, these buildings save approximately 46 percent more in comparison to the old facility and include a number of green characteristics that helped attain LEED silver certification. From water conservation and recycling to sustainable materials such as bamboo and cork flooring, the project was designed to be as efficient as possible. The project also features a storm water management system with filterra drains to capture run off and filter through special plants and roots of holly trees as well as a large glazed south facing sloped wall to minimize heat gain in the summer and maximize heat penetration in the winter while still allowing light penetration into all three floors of the administration building.

Hailing from a highly regarded history, the GRTC has taken on new and innovative ideas, both aesthetically and environmentally, to prove itself a transit company of the future. As Robert Easter said "One of the primary goals was to develop a building that incorporated the historical value of GRTC while reflecting its emergence as a leader in future urban transit."

Dani Smith is an assistant editor at American Infrastructure. She may be contacted at dsmith@penpubinc.com.