Kenmore, Washington
Rhododendron Park & Boathouse
This project increased accessibility to the Sammamish River and the Kenmore Boat Launch while protecting and enhancing sensitive wetlands and a shoreline of state-side significance. We designed a 234-ft long boardwalk that crosses over a wetland to connect the upper park, Metro bus stop, floating dock, new ADA parking, and an existing boat launch. Following completion of these improvements, Osborn Consulting continued supporting the City at Rhododendron Park through the design of the new 2,800-sq-ft Kenmore Boathouse, which is the only public access boathouse of its kind in the north Lake Washington region.
Owner
City of Kenmore
The new fiberglass grated boardwalk involved several innovative features. Pin piles were used to support the boardwalk to minimize impacts to the wetland. The wetland area and site near the river has highly compressible soils up to 20 feet deep that could lead to settling of civil structures. To combat this structural concern, the team designed pin piles to provide the necessary stabilization while minimizing wetland impacts. It was imperative that the new boardwalk and paths were wide enough for people carrying rowing shells from the park’s south parking lot to the floating dock. The engineering team modeled the path a rowing shell would travel to ensure the route would be accessible for portaging hand-powered watercrafts.
The Kenmore Boathouse serves as a year-round base of operations for the KCRC and home to all four of NSD’s high school crew teams. As the first public boathouse to offer access to the NE side of Lake Washington, the City has made a huge impact in the local community in delivering this project. With the overall goal of removing barriers and increasing access to rowing through a variety of community programs and scholarships offered through the KCRC, the Kenmore Boathouse encourages everyone to enjoy the mental, physical, and lifelong benefits of rowing. The boathouse is ADA-accessible with wheelchair lifts and paths. A local non-profit experienced in rowing programs and boathouse management provides day-to-day operations to serve the community.
