Site Planning and Design

Course Outline

Site planning is the art of evaluating a site, determining an appropriate program of activity and organizing that activity on the site. Site design is the art of arranging facilities on the site in support of the desired activity. This course describes the site planning and design process used to develop a project which fulfills facility requirements and creates the optimal relationship with the natural site, and provides general site design guidelines and criteria for design of on-site vehicular circulation and parking. This course includes a multiple-choice quiz at the end, which is designed to enhance the understanding of course materials.

Learning Objectives

At the conclusion of this course, the student will be able to:

• Understand the site planning and design process;
• Describe the steps necessary to produce a complete and integrated site plan;
• Understand the roles of interdisciplinary design team members;
• Perform site analysis;
• Conduct site verification;
• Develop site planning concept;
• Understand the required components of the sketch and concept site plans;
• Calculate geometric requirements for vehicle movement;
• Specify adequate grading for drainage;
• Describe the methods to control erosion;
• Understand principles of positive drainage;
• Know how to improve climatological conditions on site;
• Locate utility lines to simplify maintenance;
• Determine the minimum turning radii for different types of vehicles; and
• List the required components in a site traffic impact study report.

Course Content

The purpose of this course is to provide general site design guidelines and criteria for design of on-site vehicular circulation and parking. You are required to study the following DOD publication:

Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC 3-210-06A) - Design: Site Planning and Design (2004 edition, PDF format, 5.1 MB).

Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you still experience any difficulty in downloading or opening this file, you may need to close some applications or reboot your computer to free up some memory.

Course Summary

Site planning and design is one of the most important aspects in sustainable development. This course provides guidance for developing a site plan from preliminary planning through the conceptual or 35 percent design phase. The primary goal of better site planning and design is to make our world a better place to live.

Related Links

For additional technical information related to this subject, please visit the following web pages:

Site Planning Model Development Principles
Site Planning and Land Development - NAHB
Civil Engineering Software - TenLinks.com
U.S. Green Building Council

Quiz

Once you finish studying the above course content you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.

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DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDHonline.org or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered professional engineer. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.

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