Project Name: Billings Farm & Museum
Project Location: Woodstock, VT
Project Synopsis
Billings Farm & Museum is an award-winning, fully operating dairy farm and history museum located in Woodstock, Vermont. Open year-round, this museum offers educational exhibits, interactive programs, and family-friendly events focusing on sustainable agriculture practices and highlighting their Jersey cows, draft horses, and other farm animals.
In 2018, the Billings Farm & Museum was resurfacing their parking lot and roadway but required a solution to meet their stormwater management goals. The project owners planned to include permeable areas around the edge of the roadway, which would address stormwater compliance and overflow parking needs.
The GEOBLOCK®5150 Grass Pavers were the selected solution to reduce stormwater runoff and allow for occasional parking during heavy event times.
Project GEOBLOCK Porous Pavers Installation
In early spring, the installation of the GEOBLOCK Pavers began at the farm and museum.
Gurney Brothers Construction, project contractor, started the project by marking the parking areas where the GEOBLOCK Pavers were going to be installed. They excavated down approximately two inches and compacted the existing soils. An engineered base was not required for this project since only the occasional car and pickup truck would be utilizing these parking areas.
The GEOBLOCK units were positioned over the compacted surface in a bricklayer laying pattern and interlocked at the tabbed joints. Due to the bricklayer pattern, some of the units were cut in half with standard power saw.
Once the units were in place, the cells were filled with uncompacted topsoil. The final topsoil placement was slightly below the top of the GEOBLOCK cell wall to avoid undesirable compaction of the topsoil.
Once the cells were filled, grass seed was spread over the top and straw matting placed over the seeded areas and watered. Vegetation started to establish in July, and by September 2018, the parking areas were fully vegetated.
The material representative, EJ Prescott, visited the site in August 2023 and the system was fully vegetated and holding up extremely well.
GEOBLOCK5150 Grass Pavers: Perfect Green Parking Solution for Creating Pervious Areas
The GEOBLOCK5150 Grass Pavers provide exceptional load distribution (up to HS25 loading), a high resistance to rutting/torsional loading stresses, excellent turf protection, and superior stormwater infiltration.
The GEOBLOCK pavers are rigid pavers with interconnected cell walls and a tabular connection between paver units. This interconnection offers a high load distribution allowing for less supporting base material than many lighter-weight or rolled systems.
GEOBLOCK rigid pavers are designed for easy installation, requiring less site preparation, less subgrade improvement, less excavation, and less structural base than other porous pavement systems.
The topsoil infill and engineered base (topsoil/aggregate mix) allow a high rate of stormwater infiltration and offer an excellent growing medium for quick grass growth and optimal grass life.
The GEOBLOCK System contributes to green stormwater infrastructure (GSI) and low impact development (LID) designs. The permeable grass pavement surface effectively manages stormwater runoff at its source, promoting stormwater infiltration and reducing environmental impacts.
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