Landscape Architect Chris Darnell of J.K. Tiller & Associates, Inc. needed to design an elevated walkway that would run along the back wall of a proposed upscale pizza restaurant, the Mellow Mushroom. A principal goal of the design was to maintain the integrity of the live oaks, Hilton Head’s signature trees. “A lot of people come to Hilton Head to experience and interact with nature and that’s one of the charges the town has taken on, to preserve that environment,” Darnell said.
The base component of PermaTrak’s concrete boardwalk pier system was buried just 18 in. below grade. This shallow modular design minimized disturbance to the root system for Hilton Head’s famous live oak trees. “The footprint of the PermaTrak system is very reduced. In other words, only (the area) where the piers go has to be excavated to put in a footer. Otherwise everything else with the PermaTrak is left undisturbed and that’s ideal for what we were trying to do,” Darnell said.
PermaTrak’s precast concrete boardwalk material gives the Mellow Mushroom restaurant a long-term, durable structure. This elevated boardwalk will readily handle years of heavy use from commercial equipment, machines, hand trucks, trash dumpsters, and other restaurant prep traffic.