The Project
The United States Forest Service (USFS) who serve the Tongass National Forest in Alaska required a vault restroom building at the West Glacier Trailhead. Alaska is accredited with having the most forested areas in all 50 states and justifiably has high standards for these publicly owned locations. To match their commitment, Romtec needed to provide a restroom that would satisfy their high-traffic requirements and fall in line with the terrific aesthetic beauty of the natural environment. Additionally, this building needed to be installed at a remote trailhead where there was no utility infrastructure the building could connect to for power. As always, in this region, the building needed to meet snow loads for heavy winters and year round accessibility requirements. Romtec has worked on many successful building projects with the USFS and is always grateful for the opportunity to provide our buildings to them for some of America’s most treasured public locations.
The Solution
Romtec designed, supplied, and constructed the new multi-user waterless restroom for the USFS at Tongass National Forest. Designing a building around the unique weather conditions and traffic requirements led Romtec to use a center breezeway. This granted two key benefits to the building. One, the central breezeway is covered by the extended roof and allows visitors to enter and exit in a comfortable, covered area. Second, large snow drifts can no longer block doorways and will not require as much clearing maintenance by USFS personnel. Like many waterless restrooms, this restroom operates using an underground vault for temporary storage of waste and does not require access to water or power connections. Romtec worked closely with the USFS to identify their specific needs for this project at West Glacier Trailhead and deliver a complete building that would perform above and beyond their expectations.
