Assateague Mobile Bathhouse Project

Table of contents

Overview

• Location: Chincoteague, VA
• Building type(s): Park, Other
• New construction
• Project scope: multiple buildings
• Rural setting

• Completed June 2002
  The Sustainable Bathhouse Project was completed in June 2002. However, as the dynamic barrier-island landform continues its westward migration, the arrangement will be reconfigured accordingly. In that sense, this project has no completion date.

• Related projects: This project is within Assateague Island National Seashore.

Assateague is an island on the move. The ocean, shifting sand, and seasonal storms constantly transform the landscape. Natural forces have damaged beach facilities over the years. At Toms Cove, the National Park Service is responding with mobile bathhouse units. Easy to remove and reposition after a storm, each unit includes lightweight changing rooms, passive-solar vault toilets, and a solar-powered shower.

Environmental Aspects

The objective was to develop mobile, cost-effective, environmentally sensitive bathhouses to serve visitors to Assateague Island National Seashore. The solution includes lightweight cabana structures and prefabricated, passively ventilated vault toilets capable of being removed from the beach rapidly during pre-storm evacuations. Photovoltaic panels are installed in an easily transportable trailer to provide solar-powered rinse showers. Crushed clamshells were used to pave roadways and parking lots. Wayside exhibits tell the story of this project to our visitors.

Owner & Occupancy

• Owned and occupied by National Park Service, Federal government
• Typically occupied by 88 people, 112 hours per person per week

It is difficult to accurately calculate the project size and occupancy of these atypical structures. Typical number of occupants is based on full capacity estimate at the busiest time of the day during the summer season.

Building Programs

Keywords

Integrated team, Design charrette, Green framework, Contracting, Operations and maintenance, Open space preservation, Wildlife habitat, Indigenous vegetation, Efficient fixtures and appliances, Wastewater treatment, Passive solar, On-site renewable electricity, Adaptable design, Durability, Recycled materials, Local materials, C&D waste management, Connection to outdoors, Natural ventilation, Ventilation effectiveness

Team & Process

Prefabrication of the vault toilets, PV trailers, and lightweight cabanas was accomplished off-site by individual private manufacturers and contractors. The on-site innovation, deconstruction, and final installation of this project were accomplished by park staff. An extensive amount of off-site support facilities, equipment, and vehicles is required to transport, install, and remove these facilities from the beach each season. If not for the ingenuity, dedication, and hard work of a small group of strongly committed NPS maintenance staff and full support of park management, this project would not have been possible.

An ongoing commitment of funding and personnel resources is essential to the operation and maintenance of these mobile bathhouses in a harsh marine environment. Repairs and preventative maintenance of structures and support equipment are accomplished during storms and during the off season, when the facilities are removed from the beach. The funding and personnel requirements are significant, but clearly more effective that the previous strategy of maintaining, repairing, rebuilding, and relocating conventional stick-framed structures on a dynamic barrier-island landform.

Seasonal storms significantly reshape the site, requiring reconfiguration and modification of roads, parking lots, and building sites. Lessons continue to be learned each time these facilities are removed and replaced on site. The ultimate intention in this endeavor is to design a model of sustainable facilities that other Park Service units can learn from and implement, and thereby lead the National Park Service in state-of-the-art sustainable bathhouse architecture and recreational beach development.

Finance & Cost

• Equity: Government appropriation
• Grant: Public agency
• Procurement process: Design-build

Cost data in U.S. dollars as of date of completion.

• Total project cost (land excluded): $973,000

The total cost of $973,000 includes cabanas, toilets, shower towers, boardwalks, and clamshell paving.

Site Description

The lightweight changing rooms, built with stainless-steel tubes and wrapped in synthetic canvas, are easy to set up and dismantle, allowing easy removal from the beach during pre-storm evacuations.

The modular, movable boardwalks are constructed of lumber salvaged from the demolition of the old Toms Cove bathhouse. The surface is wheelchair-accessible, stable to walk on, and easy to remove before a storm.

Each toilet's black PVC chimney absorbs solar energy, creating a natural convection current. Heated, stale air rises out of the chimney, while fresh air is drawn into the wall vent. These toilet structures are modified to facilitate rapid removal from the beach during pre-storm evacuations.

A mobile, solar-powered utility trailer houses all equipment required to pump fresh water to the solar shower tower, which provides a fresh, cold-water rinse. The shower is modified with quick-disconnect fittings to allow repeated, rapid installation and removal.

Each 115-VAC, 12-horsepower pumping station provides a minimum of 1,920 gallons of water per day to operate four six-foot freestanding shower columns. The water source is a 100-foot deep well with an average static water level of five feet below ground. The pumps deliver a minimum of eight gallons per minute at 20 pounds per square inch at the showerheads. The pumps maintain water pressure with an electro-mechanical pressure switch, a two-gallon expansion tank, and an on-demand controller.

• Sensitive habitat, Preexisting structure(s), Previously developed land

• Development Impacts

  • Minimize development impact area

• Runoff Reduction

  • Reduce driveway pavement

• Integration with Site Resources

  • Celebrate and enhance existing landscape features

  • Integrate on-site wastewater treatment system with landscape design

• Siting Analysis

  • Assess regional climatic conditions

• Low-Impact Siting

  • Site development carefully to protect significant ecosystems

• Site Planning

  • Protect and celebrate a site’s uniqueness

  • Site buildings so as to help occupants celebrate the natural beauty

Energy

Photovoltaic panels were installed in easily-transportable trailers to provide solar-electric powered pumps. The PV systems were chosen not only because of the fiscal and environmental benefits of renewable energy, but because the systems could be portable. The solar-powered water-pumping trailers feature self-contained power and controls, which power the permanently installed well pumps as well as the mobile toilet and cabana lighting systems. There is also a 20-amp, 120-VAC duplex outlet inside each trailer for auxiliary power. Each trailer includes 16 75-watt Siemens PV modules, for a total of 1200 watts per trailer.

The bathhouse is totally powered by electricity generated on-site using photovoltaics. Because the system is not grid-tied, no metering was installed and end use numbers are not available. While the actual usage is unknown, 100% of the energy used is produced on site with photovoltaics.

• Photovoltaics

  • Use a photovoltaic (PV) system to generate electricity on-site

Learn More

It is possible to visit this project. The Bathhouse Project is located in the Toms Cove District of the Assateague Island National Seashore, near Chincoteague, Virginia.