Commercial & Public Facilities

BKI was selected by the New Orleans Museum of Art to provide all site engineering services for the creation of its new Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden. The garden was commissioned by the Museum to display sculptures donated by Sydney and Walda Besthoff.

The Garden includes three unique and different entrance ways to the multi-acre site. The main entranceway consists of a plaza between two steel and concrete pavilions. Additional design features of the garden include foundations for approximately forty-five sculptures, three pedestrian bridges over existing lagoons, paved walking paths, a reflecting pond with pumped water overflowing a weir, steel perimeter fencing, and relocation of an existing amusement train including a new bridge. As the sole engineer, Burk-Kleinpeter, Inc. was responsible for all civil, structural, and mechanical aspects of these features.

The project was built in a developed area of New Orleans City Park consisting of established live oak trees and lagoons. The final design included dredging and shaping of the lagoon to reach an optimum depth for aquatic life.

The estimated construction cost for this project was $5,000,000.

BKI was contracted by the Aquarium of the Americas to provide design and construction administration services for complete site development of a riverfront park and aquarium. Services included demolition, drainage, roadways, potable water, sanitary sewage, telephone, electrical distribution and site lighting. The project included demolition of existing utilities and structures from the old wharf apron and sheds prior to redevelopment of the new aquarium and public park.

BKI was retained by St. Jude Medical Complex to design and provide construction administration for the complete site development of a 30-acre medical office building complex.

BKI designed all site utilities, including water distribution, sewer collection, sewer lift station and force main, site electrical distribution and exterior lighting.  We also designed all paving, including all perimeter access roads, parking for the medical office building, and the adjacent extension of Loyola Drive. BKI provided construction administration and full time resident inspection services during the construction phase.

BKI designed the drainage system from the parking drainage collection to the existing outfall canals west and north of the Loyola Tract. The outfall drainage improvements included large concrete arch pipes and a reinforced concrete box culvert channel to convey stormwater away from the site. The improvements included a new outfall canal with an open channel design within the Loyola Tract. This channel was designed to convey full improvements of the undeveloped property to Canal No. 7.

Construction cost was approximately $2.5 million.