Whats with all the diamonds in parking lots now?

[Gharade]

I'm a grading contractor in Southern California, and I was just wondering why the entire parking lot in every commercial site I've encountered is littered with curb diamonds? Is it because they house trees? Are they just cosmetic? Please fill me in.

 

[PELS]

Cities and counties require a tree-shading component of the site design. When you design a parking lot, a certain percentage of the spaces must satisfy a shading requirement and the designer is required to compute the quantity of shade provided by the trees (as they mature) they are specifying. These "diamonds" are basically landscape planters for the trees. Sometimes they are shared by light poles too.

 

[msquared48]

Are you sure you were in a parking lot and not a California Freeway?

Mike McCann
McCann Engineering

 

[xantics]

The diamond shape also acts like a wheel stop in addition to being a tree well area.

Willy Ventura, P.E.
Ventura Engineering
Temecula, CA
ventura_engineering@yahoo.com