Schools
Georgia Tech Students Design Shakerag Parking Lot
A team of engineering students drew up plans for the parking lot and road at Johns Creek's Shakerag Park.
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Staff Report
This summer, a team of Georgia Tech engineering students drew up plans for a parking lot and road at Johns Creek’s Shakerag Park that will eventually allow patrons to park near ball fields.
Four Georgia Tech seniors designed the 60-space parking lot, and the 2,000-foot road leading to it. They also had to design a drainage and grading plan. Among the challenges they faced were maximizing the number of parking spaces, working around a detention pond, avoiding a 50-foot buffer to a nearby creek, and making sure silt didn’t wash into the creek.
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“There were a lot of variables we thought would be good experience,” said Johns Creek Public Works Director Tom Black. “We gave them some guidelines and suggestions. They took them and produced a good design.”
Kendall Mayo, a civil engineering major at Georgia Tech, said he learned a lot doing the project.
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“We had to take our theoretical knowledge and apply it on a practical level,” Mayo said. “We had to learn about drainage, and we had to learn different kinds of 3-D software. And we learned the value of communication, making sure everyone is clear on what everyone else is doing. It was a great experience.”
Jon Drysdale, a Georgia Tech professor and an engineer with Lowe Engineers, a City contractor, contacted city officials last spring about having the students work on a city project. The parking lot and road seemed like a good fit.
The arrangement was part of a Georgia Tech program called Capstone Engineering. Students participating in the program were Danielle Alexandra Rodriguez, Joshua Todd Hallock, Lucas Gabriel Cabarcos, and Kendall Barber-Mayo.
Construction of the parking lot and road is tentatively planned for 2015.
(Photo credit: city of Johns Creek)
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