The Spanish Plaza, originally known as Eads Plaza, was dedicated in 1976 to the City of New Orleans by Spain in remembrance of their common historical past and a pledge of fraternity in the future. In late 2017, the Mayor of New Orleans announced multiple historic redevelopment projects to provide contiguous public access along an approximately 3.2 mile stretch of the riverfront, which would include a complete revitalization of the Spanish Plaza. Several groups invested approximately $7.5 million to install new paving, a fountain, trees, plants, lighting and seating to celebrate the plaza as a primary destination on the riverfront and a world-class public venue and tourist attraction.
DuraTrench was honored to be involved in the design phase with Dana Brown & Associates, who decided upon a narrow and very shallow trench drain compatible with pavers to minimize the aesthetic impact on the paving pattern while avoiding existing subsurface facilities.
Important aspects of the project from a trench drain perspective included:
- Over 600ft of shallow pre-sloped DuraTrench DTPF2 product was designed for use on this project to work with existing conditions and the planned unique pattern and geometry of the plaza
- A Paver Anchorage system was provided on the frame to allow pavers to be placed up to the trench drain edge without stud or bracket conflict
- A simple black coated steel slotted ADA-compliant and heel-proof grate was chosen for use in the plaza – 03CF24BPB – to ensure safe pedestrian movement and to work with the dark and light mixes of pavers in a unique pattern intended to pay homage to the plaza’s Spanish roots
- Pre-fabricated tees, bends, and radius curves were provided fully assembled along with standard straight sections, typically 8′ long, complete with plywood installed
