Product Spotlight on Drivable Grass®

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The Tulalip Resort & Casino is found just north of Seattle, Washington on the 22,000-acre Indian Reservation of the Tulalip Tribes. When it rains, it can turn a typical parking lot into a virtual swamp within minutes. Gary Rutherford, Facilities Project Coordinator for the Resort & Casino was faced with a challenge. How could he create a more reliable and functional parking lot for the private VIP Entrance to the casino’s Player’s Club? Standing water on a traditional concrete surface simply was unacceptable.

Rutherford saw information on Drivable Grass® at a StormCon event a couple of years ago. He determined that a flexible, permeable material like Drivable Grass® was exactly what was needed for his parking lot project. “I like to push the envelope on design and using a product like this not only meets stringent Low Impact Development (LID) regulations, but creates a natural looking and highly effective parking facility that prevents run-off and avoids standing water. We called in civil engineers to help us develop a 40-space parking lot plan covering 7,440 sf. Before installing the Drivable Grass®, we had to first remove 18 inches of hard-packed subgrade material and then add a layer of porous material. The results speak for themselves.

Today, the lot is covered in nice, thick grass and most people don’t even realize it’s a parking lot. It’s as lush as can be and our swamp problems are gone for good.”

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At a Glance –

Civil Engineering – DOWL HKM, Redmond, WA, www.dowlhkim.com

General Contractor - Northwest Construction Services, Marysville, WA www.northwestconstruction.com

Drivable Grass® – 7440 sf. installed to create a 40-space parking lot