Cabin And Site Design for Lot 118 in Summit County, Utah
Team: Colton Eakins, Aaron Ellefson, Conner Godfrey, Alec Lange, Justice Morris, and Talon Mortenson
Sponsor: JUB Engineers, USDA Ashley National Forest, Ironside Engineering
Project Summary
Our client, Mike Eakins, purchased a five-acre plot of land in the Mountains of Summit County with the intention to build a cabin. The property is situated on the south facing plane in Weber Canyon, boasting the natural beauty of the land. However, due to the location, this task presents unique challenges.
These challenges stem from the property's topography, which features numerous slopes exceeding ten percent, with significant portions of the land having slopes exceeding thirty percent. To combat these challenges, Bread Engineering has designed a driveway to access the site and a retaining wall to confront the high slopes on the property. After these preliminary requirements were addressed, the team designed the cabin to align the clients wants and needs.
3D Rendering of Cabin
Alternatives
The team explored six different site alternatives to connect the cabin to the main road. Those alternatives are:
- Do nothing
- East side lower lot
- West side upper lot
- Use west neighbor's driveway
- Legislative change/exemption
- Sell and buy new property
Neighbor's Driveway
East Side Lower Lot
West Side Upper Lot
Criteria and Selection Process
Summit County code restrictions affect:
- Driveway grading
- Alignment to road
- Proximity to intersections
- Weightand turn radius limits
Cabin property code effects:
- Property line proximity
Client requests:
- Aesthetically pleasing
Selected Alternative: East Side Lower Lot
This alternative was selected for being the most cost-effective option while offering a more private placement for the cabin. This placement offers noise reduction from the canyon and minimal tree clearing.
This alternative required more landscape work than others which included the design of a retaining wall.
Design
Driveway and Site Design
The site layout and driveway were designed in Civil 3D. The driveway is 280 ft long. The retaining wall starts at 130 ft along the road and continues past the southern end of the cabin
The project will have an estimated 665 Cu. Yd. of extra fill which will be used to expand the backyard footprint.
Retaining Wall Design
The retaining wall was designed following BrajaM. Das’-Principles of foundation engineering (2019) for sheet pile walls. The wall will be constructed in 7-foot-long segments.
- No.2 Douglas-Fir-Larch (Pressure Treated) was selected for the lagging between piles
- 50 ksiW12x14 piles were selected for their balance of strength and price
- 4 ksistrength concrete was selected for the casing around the piles
Cabin Design
This 4200 sqft, two-story, five bedroom, four-and-a-half-bath cabin was designed in AutoCAD and Revit. A 1300 sqftdetached three car garage was also designed to provide both parking and storage for the Eakins family.
The estimated project cost is $2.4 Million
3D Rendering of Garage
Support
Valton Mortenson
- External PE for project
Weston Bellon
- Civil 3D assistance with landscape modeling
Dustin Barnes
- Assistance with cabin design and calculations
Austin Ball
- Faculty advisor for Project
John Rice
- Provided support for retaining wall design
Mike Eakins
- Project Client
- Provided site survey data