Valerie E. Aymer - Landscape Grading: A Study Guide for the LARE

For every element that we design in the landscape, there is a corresponding grading concept, and how these concepts are drawn together is what creates a site grading plan. This study guide explores these concepts in detail to help you learn how to grade with confidence in preparation for the Grading, Drainage and Construction Documentation section of the Landscape Architecture Registration Examination (LARE).

This updated second edition is designed as a textbook for the landscape architecture student, a study guide for the professional studying for the LARE, and a refresher for licensed landscape architects. New to this edition:

Additional illustrations and explanations for grading plane surfaces and warped planes, swales, berms, retention ponds, and drain inlets;

Additional illustrations and explanations for grading paths, ramp landings, ramp/stair combinations and retaining walls;

A section on landscape and built element combinations, highlighting grading techniques for parking lots, culverts and sloping berms;

A section on landscape grading standards, recognizing soil cut and fill, determining pipe cover, finding FFE, and horizontal and vertical curves;

Updated information about the computer-based LARE test;

All sections updated to comply with current ADA guidelines;

An appendix highlighting metric standards and guidelines for accessibility design in Canada and the UK.

With 223 original illustrations to aid the reader in understanding the grading concepts, including 32 end-of-chapter exercises and solutions to practice the concepts introduced in each chapter, and 10 grading vignettes that combine different concepts into more robust exercises, mimicking the difficulty level of questions on the LARE, this book is your comprehensive guide to landscape grading.

Valerie Aymer is a licensed landscape architect and a member of the American Society of Landscape Architects. She received her Masters in Landscape Architecture in 2002 from Cornell University and her professional license in 2009. She has practiced in Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and New York, most notably on the World Trade Center projects in Lower Manhattan. In 2015, she joined the faculty of the Department of Landscape Architecture at Cornell University where she teaches several technical courses including site engineering.

LANDSCAPE GRADING

A Study Guide for the LARE

Second edition published 2020

by Routledge

2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN

and by Routledge

52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017

Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business

2020 Valerie Aymer

The right of Valerie Aymer to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

First edition published by lulu.com 2011

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Aymer, Valerie, author.

Title: Landscape grading : a study guide for the LARE / Valerie Aymer.

Description: 2. | Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019057257 (print) | LCCN 2019057258 (ebook) | ISBN 9780367439057 (hardback) | ISBN 9780367439071 (paperback) | ISBN 9781003006404 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Grading (Earthwork)ExaminationsStudy guides. | Landscape constructionExaminationsStudy guides. | Building sitesExaminationsStudy guides.

Classification: LCC TH380 .A96 2020 (print) | LCC TH380 (ebook) | DDC 624.1/52dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019057257

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019057258

ISBN: 978-0-367-43905-7 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-0-367-43907-1 (pbk)

ISBN: 978-1-003-00640-4 (ebk)

Typeset in Univers

by Wearset Ltd, Boldon, Tyne and Wear

This text is dedicated to my study partners, my professors, my students, and all the future landscape architecture professionals.

As a student of landscape architecture in graduate school I was always fascinated by the technical aspects of the profession. How does a design come into being? How does what you draw on the paper become real? Grading gives structure to designs, it explains if your design is feasible and how it will ultimately change the existing landscape. It creates places from spaces. It helps designers work with, rather than against the existing topography.

Landscape grading is the key to a successful landscape design. For every element that we design in the landscape, there is a corresponding grading concept. How these concepts come together is what makes up a grading plan. It tells a Contractor how the design should interface with the existing landscape.

Whether it is at a small scale or a large scale the principles of landscape grading are the same. In this book, we will explore the basics of landscape grading through explanations and examples of how to solve simple problems. This book will show you where to begin, how to find your spot elevations, and how to connect your proposed contour lines. None of the concepts in this book are new, they are, however, presented in a way to help you make the leap from concept to application. In the subsequent years since the original book was published, I have used the techniques in this book on landscape architecture projects of varying size and scale. I have also refined the explanations and added depth where needed based on several years of teaching landscape grading. The edition is a collection of teaching notes with additional figures, exercises and vignettes that add clarity and provide additional practice.

This book is designed as a how to solve a problem guide rather than a why do we solve the problem this way guide. If you would like more detail into why we solve grading problems the way we do, there is a list of recommended reading in the back of the book. My goal, when writing this book, was to provide enough knowledge so that when presented with a grading vignette you know how to tackle it. Remember there are many ways to solve a grading problem, this book will add to your body of knowledge or give you a good starting point in your studying. I hope you find this study guide useful.

Although a lot of grading and drainage topics are covered in the book, it is not a comprehensive overview of all the topics covered in the LARE Section 4: Grading, Drainage and Construction Documentation. For a complete and comprehensive list of topics on the examination, check www.clarb.org. The information in this book is current and the subject matter has been reviewed by licensed landscape architects; any errors are unintentional. Additional research of topics, study and practice of vignettes should be undertaken for this examination. It is the responsibility of each person taking the examination to prepare for it thoroughly. Any similarity to existing LARE practice vignettes and current examination problems is unintentional and coincidental. To sign up for the examination or to check your eligibility to take the exam check with your states licensing board and www.clarb.org.