Rideout Point is a 578 acre nature preserve being constructed by the North Florida Land Trust, abbreviated NFLT. The preserve will consist of walking trails, kayak launches, picnic spaces, and a three-story observation tower for visitors to enjoy an elevated view above the preserve’s beautiful cypress swampland. The NFLT tasked the Osprey Engineering team with designing the observation tower in accordance with specified requirements and the towers intended use. The goal for the Osprey Engineering team was to design an aesthetically pleasing, safe, and accessible tower with multiple features that ensure an enjoyable experience in an increasingly rare natural environment. The team conducted a site visit to in order to survey the future tower location, and afterwards produced three tower design alternatives for the NFLT to choose from, each varying in aspects such as appearance, shape, and construction materials. After the NFLT selected an alternative, the team developed a complete engineering design including AutoCAD files, structural load calculations in line with the required building codes, and a construction cost estimation. Along with the tower design provided for the NFLT, outcomes of the project are an estimated $214,490.00 worth of engineering design work provided by five University of North Florida engineering volunteers, collectively contributing an estimated 260 hours over an eight- month period.
2 Responses
Fantastic project- I am a big fan of the work of NFLT and its great to see Osprey Engineering involved in that work.
Alec, the OUR project evaluation team really liked this project! Your abstract and poster are well-organized, interesting, and provide just the right amount of information for a poster conference. Now we all want to go out and climb the tower! Warmest congratulations to you and to the Osprey Engineering team.