South Entrance and Visitor Center Road Rehabilitation Zion National Park

Zion National Park is a southwest Utah nature preserve distinguished by Zion Canyon’s steep red cliffs.
Zion Canyon Scenic Drive cuts through its main section, leading to forest trails along the Virgin River.

The project includes the rehabilitation of existing improvements and the construction of new
improvements at the project site including a new roundabout North of the existing entry plaza (with
associated new roadway alignment), new roadway running east from the roundabout to a new
pedestrian and vehicular bridge (with new roadway connection to the existing bridge), pedestrian
underpass under the new bridge that connects to the trail running N-S along the east side of the river, a
new roadway configuration after the bridge, a roadway connection to the bus charging parking area, additional phases of the shuttle bus charging/parking area that includes charging units, reconfigured/enlarged employee parking lot and shuttle bus parking lot, trail connection from the employee lot to the visitor center area, a second new roundabout that directs traffic to the oversize vehicle lot and the connection to the visitor center area, a reconfigured/enlarged oversized vehicle parking lot, roadway and trail connections to the shuttle stop area as needed, pedestrian underpass under the existing bridge, removal of the old roadway to the existing bridge and reconfiguration of the roadway over the bridge to the shuttle stop area, grading of all areas adjacent to the project areas to connect to exiting grades, culverts as needed, trail reconfiguration/connections as needed, plantings and revegetation of disturbed areas, rail connections to the adjacent campground as needed.

GES is performing visual pavement evaluations in general accordance with the FHWA Distress Identification Manual (Publication No. FHWA-RD-03-031) within the subject site to visually evaluate existing pavement conditions. GES has completed a geotechnical evaluation at the site including seven exploratory borings ranging from 10 to 100 feet and soil sampling, laboratory testing, engineering analysis and recommendations for design and construction of proposed project improvements. Using Underground Service Alert (USA) North, GES obtained underground utility clearance for public utilities at the project site prior to drilling the borings.

Geotechnical laboratory tests will be performed on representative soil samples obtained from the borings to evaluate certain physical and engineering parameters.