Ehrhart Griffin & Associates (EGA) has had a long and rewarding relationship with Conagra over the past couple decades and has done a significant amount of surveying and engi-neering on the campus in downtown Omaha. It was because of this relationship that when Conagra decided to redevelop their downtown campus it was fitting the EGA was retained to perform the civil engineering services.
Starting in 2017 Conagra began working with Hines on the redevelopment to determine all challenges and benefits of the potential project. Ultimately, the project became The Mercan-tile which is a 20+ acre mixed-use redevelopment. EGA assisted the architect and the owners on the master planning to determine the best street layout, utility re-routing, lot sizes and configuration.
EGA was in charge of the platting, civil design, coordination with the architect from Atlanta and significant utility relocations. The Metropolitan Utilities District had significant infrastructure crossing the site including a 16” gas main that serves a large portion of north Omaha and the airport, and a 16” water main. Due to the atypical street configuration of the campus, both had to be relocated and due to their size, the timing was critical. OPPD also had to re-route a large power duct and numerous communications companies had fiber-optic wires to be relocated as well. The City’s 24” sanitary sewer outfall was relocated and required a trenchless construction due to
The Harney Street configuration and design is an extreme divergence from the standard City Street and sidewalk section seen throughout Omaha. A portion of the street has two separate one-way lanes with a large plaza in the middle that will hold small businesses such as a coffee shop and ice cream parlor, in the near future. The street also boasts a fantastic brick paver design and 1” curbs to make pedestrian events and maneuverability a great experience!
Site design elements included demolition, overlot grading with surcharge, utility main reloca-tions, storm water detention and water quality treatment meeting City ordinance and ADA accessibility.
