Miramar National Cemetery

The Miramar National Cemetery project involved the development of a new military cemetery on 42-acres, which will provide 11,500 grave sites; 4,600 in-ground cremation sites; 10,000 columbarium niches and provide sufficient burial capacity for approximately ten years. This first phase will also include an administration and maintenance complex, public information center, two committal service shelters, entrance and flag/assembly area feature, and supporting infrastructure such as roads, parking, utilities and irrigation. There will be 168 acres of developed space on the 323 acres of land set aside for the cemetery. The master plan is designed to have the cemetery last for the next 60 years. The land on which the cemetery is located is inhabited by endangered gnatcatchers and threatened fairy shrimp. Unlike most national cemeteries where burial plots are in neat rows sprawling the length of the land, burial grounds will be in clusters with native plant life and vernal pools in between. One of the larger vernal pools will be part of a "memorial walk" toward the entrance of the cemetery. The walk will also include statues and memorials donated by various veteran groups and have placards describing some of the native species. Additionally, the cemetery will have an amphitheater that can accommodate 15,000 people. When all phases are completed this project will eventually be the resting place of 235,000 veterans.

With our in-house surveying capabilities, Burkett & Wong Engineers also provided aerial topographic survey, supplemental traditional ground surveying for design purposes and boundary survey services.

Utility research and extensive coordination with the City of San Diego, franchise utility companies and MCAS Miramar was necessary due to the presence of numerous utility lines, meters and easements bisecting the site. Several new points of connections were made to the existing utilities for use by the new cemetery facilities. Site layout and grading was carefully coordinated with existing transmission lines including 42” water, 10” and 16” fuel, 36” reclaimed, 16” blended sludge, 10” landfill gas and 4” fiber optic utilities.

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