Parking structures stressed by heavier vehicles



Structured parking is envisioned as part of the development at the El Cerrito Plaza BART station. How will its design respond to an evolving vehicle future? As automobiles get larger, cities will be under pressure to change parking to accommodate the growing sizes, which means more asphalt and concrete. There are serious questions about whether existing parking garages can hold the extra weight of American vehicles going forward. Structural engineers in the United Kingdom are expressing concerns about the impact on parking garages of heavier, electrified cars. Electrified American cars are bigger still.

The concrete industry is responsible for 8% of carbon dioxide emissions worldwide. We will likely need to use more concrete in future parking garages given vehicle bloat. Hopefully emissions from concrete and steel manufacturing can be reduced, which, if improved processes can be developed, will nevertheless take time to scale up. Meanwhile other solutions: Make parking spaces bigger and thus provide fewer spaces in a structure, or restrict which vehicles are allowed in a garage based on their weight. Either solution would end up putting more vehicles parked on the street. — Steve Price

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