TRANSPORTATION > Transit & Parking
Ministry of Finance Parkade
Client: City of Oshawa
Location: King St., Oshawa
Construction Value: $8,000,000
Services: Functional and conceptual planning, Preliminary and Detailed Design, Preparation of Contract Drawings, Specifications, Contract Administration, Resident Inspection of Construction
Key Features
- 600 parking spaces including
- 60 small car spaces and
- 30 high clearance van spaces
- Built on an irregularly shaped, poorly graded site adjacent to the Oshawa Creek
- Location precluded the construction of any parking levels below the projected 100-year storm elevation
- Site was sufficiently long enough to permit a scissor configuration with ramp parking at reasonable grades
In accordance with the Province’s diversification policy, the Ontario Ministry of Finance (formerly Revenue) relocated some 1500 employees from Toronto to a new office building in Oshawa. To satisfy the need for parking, the Ministry entered into an agreement with the City of Oshawa to share the cost of a new municipal parking garage built on a nearby site in the downtown core, bounded by King/McMillan/Bond Streets and the Oshawa Creek.
The final design is a 5 level L-shaped structure which not only permits a most cost effective layout but also reduces the travel distance and therefore the boredom associated with access and egress to and from the higher levels. Although not part of the original Terms of Reference we carried out comparative cost analysis which demonstrated to the City the desirability of incorporating into the 5 level structural, mechanical and electrical design provision whereby two more levels may readily be added in the future.
Several unique structural features were incorporated into the design of the Oshawa Garage to overcome premature deterioration namely:
- Column expansion pads
- Five independent bays post tensioned in both directions without expansion joints
- Structural continuity throughout with no moving or rotating deck joints
- Fast positive floor drainage, during the numerous winter freeze thaw cycles, is essential to the long term durability of a parking structure’s warped surfaces. Stainless steel gutters with heated lateral drains and stacks were built into the Oshawa Garage with excellent results.