2000 Powell Street in Emeryville is part of The Towers Emeryville, a three-building waterfront office park. First developed in the ’70s, The Towers Emeryville offers more than 800,000 square feet of office space and panoramic views of the San Francisco Bay. Today, 2000 Powell Street is home to some of the Bay Area’s most exciting companies. Recently, it was also the site of a much-needed parking garage repair project that presented unique challenges for the Rainbow team.
Keeping Parking Garages Safe
Parking garages are never the most exciting part of a building, but they are essential to keeping structures accessible, functional, and safe on a day-to-day basis. As such, parking garage repair is a critical component of building maintenance.
Parking garages, like other structures, deteriorate over time. However, garages are exposed to unique conditions that make them particularly vulnerable to problems. Cars bring in water, salt, and other corrosive chemicals, and surfaces are exposed to automobile emissions throughout the day. Over time, these factors can damage concrete, causing cracks, and allowing water to intrude. Once water has seeped in, more serious damage can occur, including rebar corrosion that compromises the structural integrity of the parking garage. The risk is particularly high in older concrete parking garages, where small issues can quickly snowball into larger problems.
The parking garage repair project at 2000 Powell Street included re-coating over existing traffic coating and replacing expansion joints.
Parking Garage Repair at 2000 Powell Street
The parking garage repair at 2000 Powell Street included several steps:
- 300+ square feet of overhead concrete spall repair
- 150,000 of traffic coating over the existing traffic coating
- Replacement of expansion joints
- Replacement of planter waterproofing at select planters
Each of these was essential to achieving a successful, durable result.
The Rainbow team’s extensive expertise in waterproofing and concrete repair allowed us to identify areas of vulnerability and create a pragmatic plan to address them. This included careful filling of cracks, placement of concrete repair mortars to prevent further deterioration and water intrusion. It also meant selecting and applying high-quality coating materials that will stand up to heavy traffic and offer long-term protection from environmental threats.
Replacing the expansion joints was particularly important at 2000 Powell Street, owing to its geographic location. Expansion joints help buildings safely expand and contract as temperatures change. They also give structures the mobility they need to absorb vibrations—including those caused by earthquakes. In the Bay Area, maintaining the integrity of expansion joints is a key safety measure to ensure buildings can withstand frequent seismic activity.
The Challenge of an Active Work Site
The biggest challenge the Rainbow team faced at 2000 Powell Street was that the garage had to remain open for the duration of the project. The team was allowed to close certain sections at a time, but not an entire floor. This required constant communication between the client and crew to ensure deadlines were met and progress was updated daily. With careful planning and close collaboration, the Rainbow team completed the project with minimal disruption.
The revitalized parking garage at 2000 Powell Street.
The Rainbow Team
At Rainbow, we pride ourselves on our years of experience, technical expertise, and outstanding craftsmanship. But it is our spirit of teamwork that truly makes us stand out. That teamwork was on full display at the 2000 Powell Street parking garage repair project. By creating strong partnerships with the engineer, Walter P. Moore, and the owner representative, Cushman & Wakefield, we were able to make meaningful improvements that will protect visitors for years.
Rainbow’s waterproofing and restoration expertise can make your parking garage repair project a success. Reach out to the Rainbow team today
The Rainbow Team is Northern California’s most trusted waterproofing and restoration company. We have the craftsmanship and expertise to handle any commercial or historic building envelope, masonry, or waterproofing project in the San Francisco Bay Area.
