Retaining Walls
During the fall of 2016, a particularly bad storm hit a shoreline road in Gisborne, New Zealand. Monstrous waves slammed into the shoreline slope, which eroded away due to oversaturation and lack of foundational support. The erosion washed away part of the slope and took a portion of the road with...
When a road turns into a raging river, it becomes both dangerous and damaging. This is exactly what happened in July 2013, when the city of Lebanon, N.H., was swamped with more than 4 in. of rain within 48 hours—2 in. fell in just 45 minutes. The deluge caused flash flooding, which left residents...
All great visions have to start somewhere. This one began with over 3 miles of paved multi-purpose trail winding through the scenic Clear Creek Canyon near Denver.
Installing the retaining walls was no easy task, as the terrain includes steep slopes, flooding issues along the river, active...
The retaining wall creates a safe place for truck drivers to chain-up their tiers during snowy weather
The Challenge:
When it snows in Vail, Colorado, it’s a skier’s dream—but for drivers, especially of trucks maneuvering steep mountain roads, it can be treacherous. To make things safer, the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) wanted to widen I-70 at both sides of mountain pass locations...
For several years, the busy intersection of Lafranier Road and South Airport Road in Traverse City, Mich., near the Cherry Capital Airport was also one of the most dangerous. The steep, 12% grade at the end of Lafranier Road made it difficult for drivers to stop as they approached the South Airport...
The intersection of Rybolt and Wesselman Roads in Green Township, Ohio, was notorious for its significant visibility problems and heavy traffic. With construction starting in 2014 on a new subdivision nearby, Hamilton County officials initiated plans to widen the intersection to allow for the...
The Paseo Del Norte/I-25 Interchange is one of the busiest corridors in New Mexico, often producing major traffic congestion issues during rush hours. The city of Albuquerque needed a way to make it easier and safer to travel on the highways, and wanted to incorporate a pedestrian walkway and bike...
All lanes of traffic remained open during construction of the Redi-Rock retaining walls, which are designed to install quickly and within a small footprint.
THE CHALLENGE
In 2015, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) began work on the multi-million-dollar New Circle Road widening project in Lexington. The scope of the project included nearly 3.2 miles of lane additions, shoulder widening, on-ramp and exit ramp realignment, and bridge widening...
Redi-Rock retaining walls were used to provide structural support for the security access road rerouted beneath the runway at the Louisville International Airport.
When the Louisville International Airport needed to extend a runway, engineers were challenged to relocate a security access road that ran through the proposed extension site. With no space to move the road and utilities, engineers decided to reroute the road through a tunnel beneath the runway.
...
Redi-Rock gravity retaining walls in the Limestone texture were used to accommodate the grade change of this sloping construction site.
Grade changes and wetlands presented a major challenge to designers of the new Mount Kisco Medical Center.The access road to the development needed to meet the grade change requirements, minimize disturbance to the wetlands, and keep the site fully functional during construction. See how the design...
When developers turn blighted properties into high-end developments, they need infrastructure to support it and provide access. Several years ago, a former rock quarry in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, was selected for a $300 million development project. This unlikely site is now home to a beautiful, high...
A Cobblestone texture was required for retaining walls in the parking lot and the emergency entrance; the former was 9 ft high and the latter was 15 ft high.
When the Maine General Hospital started construction on the Alfond Center for Health, they had some unique challenges to face.
The hilly site required 23,000 sq ft of retaining walls to create level areas for buildings and roads. “There was 50 ft of grade difference across the site. This required...
Article
June 10, 2011
Mechanically stabilized earth walls, or MSE walls, are commonly used to stabilize backfill around bridges or for retaining walls along freeways. In the last 15 years, UDOT’s use of MSE walls has become routine where retaining walls are required.
UDOT has a database of over 700 MSE walls in use...
Article
May 17, 2002
MKK Constructors faced the usual pressures when entering a
design-build project in Colorado—time and money. Frustration could have
set in, but the prime contractor wasn’t banging his head against the
walls. In fact, the retaining wall system used provided peace of mind.
The E-470 toll road in...
In 2010, the Mississippi Department of Transportation made plans to widen existing bridges and shoulders on I-59 in Laurel, Miss.
The challenge? “We had a limited amount of right-of-way and we didn’t have time to go buy more. Really what we were trying to do was find a way to limit our footprint...
In a project commissioned by the Gold Coast City Council and supervised by leading Australian manufacturer and installer of soil stabilization and retaining systems, Concrib, several retaining walls were built at different locations around a road upgrade site recently.
According to Concrib...
When a bad storm caused a cemetery’s steep slope to erode into the nearby road, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet needed a solution to prevent further erosion of this sensitive area.
“In May of 2010, we had a flood that caused the land to slide a bit. We had debris in the roadway and it looked...
When the city of Lacey, Wash., set out to rebuild a 6,000 ft section of Carpenter Road, the main goal was to convert the two-lane arterial road to a four- to five-lane arterial.
“The challenge was that the road went through a commercial and residential area so we were really tight on right-of-way...
Case Studies
The “before” photos of this project are not a pretty sight. A river running below this Washington road had undermined the base of the slope, while runoff had heavily eroded an extremely steep hillside above the road.
“Between the hydraulics created by the hill on the back side and the river...
On Oct. 29, 2012, the storm surge from Hurricane Sandy hit Long Island with a vengeance causing major beach erosion along the island’s south and north shores. One of the regions that received a great amount of damage was the Bayville–Oyster Bay area. West Shore Road, which is the main route between...
