Solving A Large Scale Parking Issue Without A Large Scale Construction Project
There’s an assumption that providing hundreds of additional parking spaces inevitably means a large and expensive project to build a multi-story car park. With the costs, disruption and potential environmental impact involved this sometimes means the demand goes unmet. In simple terms, the costs and risks outweigh the potential benefits.
Even with the projects that go ahead, alternative solutions that would be cheaper and easier to execute sometimes never get seriously explored. There are frequently opportunities missed to make even large-scale parking projects cheaper, quicker and less environmentally damaging to implement.
Multi-storey car parks normally entail major construction works to dig out foundations and erect a reinforced concrete structure. This is an expensive and time-consuming option. What if, instead of this, the additional spaces could be provided in a fraction of the time and cost and without any disruptive excavation of foundations?
Modular Parking Solutions Save Cost and Time
That’s exactly what is happening with one of the current projects involving the Osborne-Siderpark modular car parking solution. 700 parking spaces are being added over two additional parking decks. The project duration is measured in weeks rather than months and the costs and environmental impact are significantly reduced.
The modular parking solution uses a robust modular steel frame that is quickly and easily erected. The structure sits on an existing surface-level car park without needing foundations. At the end of its life the structure can be quickly dismantled. It is then either reused elsewhere or recycled, which you couldn’t do very simply with reinforced concrete. The environmental impact is reduced during and after construction.
With 85% of the nation’s car parks being surface-level only, there’s plenty of scope to expand parking provision quickly and cost-effectively. The modular solution reduces the impact on current parking capacity during construction and also brings forward additional revenue because the new spaces are in service sooner.
There are many persuasive reasons to consider alternatives to the conventional multi-storey route.
