Zane Middle School: TOD-19

The primary purpose of this project is to provide Zane Middle School with a construction document for a durable and aesthetically pleasing design of an area on campus, called the Triangle of Death, that experiences issues due to heavy foot traffic. This construction document includes annotations and measurements of the finalized project to aid Zane staff in the construction and implementation of our design. A secondary purpose of this project is to create educational and entertaining DIY videos that are related to landscape design for people sheltered in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. The DIY page can be accessed here.

Background[edit | edit source]

Team Cowboys of the Season is from Lonny Grafman’s Spring 2020 Engineering 215 Intro to Design class at Cal Poly Humboldt. The project was created by Trevor Hammons, the Zane Middle School counselor. Its goal is to provide Zane Middle School with the framework to create a durable and aesthetically pleasing solution to the current landscaping of the Triangle of Death.The Triangle of Death is a landscaped area on campus located between classes. There used to be vegetation covering the Triangle, but because of its awkward position these plants were trampled every passing period. Because no plants survive, the Triangle is an eyesore for the campus.

Problem statement and criteria[edit | edit source]

The objective of this project is to provide Zane Middle School a detailed AutoCAD document with directions for the construction of durable and aesthetically pleasing landscaping in the Triangle of Death area.

Criteria	Importance	Constraints
Hardiness/Durability of Materials	9	Pathways/planters must last more than 6 years, while plants must be tougher than daylilies
Safety	10	Comply with all ADA school safety regulations. Must be safe for kids to participate in.
Aesthetics	7	Must be more appealing than the previous landscaping before
Maintenance	7	The system needs to be able to be maintained by 2 adults.
Ease of use	6	The system needs to be able to be used by any one adult.
Safety	5	Must be safe for all persons including children. Also must be safe for the ducks that live on the property.

Description of final project[edit | edit source]

The final design includes grass covering all areas not covered by pathways, planters, or sprinkler boxes. Treated cedar planters fill out the open sections between the pre-existing pathways, while leaving a one foot border between the planters and the edges of the Triangle and pathways, allowing for the grass there to be properly maintained. The planters are eight inches tall to encourage the students to stay on the paths.

Prototyping[edit | edit source]

Prototyping for the landscaping in AutoCAD involved inputting the measurements of the Triangle’s borders, pathways, individual sections, and sprinkler boxes to create the layout for the new design. Then multiple designs were created to compare them side-by-side. Notable designs included using stepping stones or circular brick planters in the open sections to protect the grass. However, large planters that matched the angles of the open sections were finally chosen to best encourage students to stay on the pathways when crossing over the Triangle.

Prototyping for the planter box included drafting different styles in AutoCAD and then constructing a physical planter as an example of what would be implemented in the Triangle. This planter is rectangular, unlike what would be implemented at Zane, but the design and construction process is the same. Additionally, the prototype was made of redwood, while the final planters would be made of treated cedar to ensure a longer lifespan and eliminate the need for plastic liners.

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  AutoCAD design of the landscaping for Triangle of Death.]]

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  The final planter box.

Costs[edit | edit source]

The following table lists the costs required in implementing our landscaping design.

Material	Amount	Cost ($)
2x4x8 Cedar Wood	42	$343.56
Used Potting Soil (square yrd)	5	$125.00
Sod Grass (square foot)	250	$155.00
Sword Fern	10	$150.00
Encore Azalea	8	$320.00
Total Cost|		$1,093.56

The following table shows the costs of the materials required for the planters.

Material	Amount	Cost ($)
8 Foot Long Cedar Boards	6	12.37
10 Foot 4X4	1	15.98
Package of screws	1	9.97
Total Cost|		100.17

How to build[edit | edit source]

How To Build Triangle of Life
Image	Steps
	Step 1: Observe landscape and take enough measurements to be able to recreate the drawing in AutoCAD.
	Step 2: Recreate the drawing in AutoCAD with measurements that were taken in the field.
	Step 3: Apply landscape design to the drawing and change colors of different layers.
	Step 4: Create multiple copies of step 3 and add dimensions to areas that will be specified in layout tabs later.
	Step 5: Create a title block that allows for a title, drawing number, notes, and important revision dates.
	Step 6: Create multiple layout tabs with paper space that matches the title block then create viewports to specify areas previously dimensioned.
	Step 7: Clean up drawings and have them approved by others and then submit drawings as PDFs.

Maintenance[edit | edit source]

The landscape design for the Triangle of Death requires some maintenance. This section describes the types of maintenance and how often they will be required.

Schedule[edit | edit source]

Weekly

• mow and water grass in accordance with existing schedule

Every 10-20 years

• replace cedar wood

Discussion and next steps[edit | edit source]

In the future, we hope that Zane or another Engineering 215 group will complete this project because we put a lot of time, effort, and thought into its design. Although we do not know who will finish it, we will ensure that whatever group chooses to complete this project has access to our documents. We are disappointed that we are not able to solve the Triangle of Death, and that it remains an issue.