Gravity Wall Alternative to Gabion Baskets

THE CHALLENGE

When the City of Sylvania, Ohio needed to reinforce the banks of Ten Mile Creek, they turned to gabion baskets for a quick solution. The gabion walls were slated for the north side of the creek only.

Soon after excavation began, the installation crews from Fort Defiance Construction and North Coast Marine ran into trouble. They discovered an existing foundation on the north bank of Ten Mile Creek. This foundation made it impossible to excavate for the geogrid reinforcement the gabion baskets required. In addition, tree removal on the south side of the creek made retaining walls necessary there as well to prevent erosion.

The existing foundation made excavating for geogrid for the gabion walls impractical, and the City needed a better, faster solution that could be built directly in front of the existing foundation, and without reinforcement.

THE SOLUTION

Designers turned to Redi-Rock for a solution that would allow a wall to be installed with minimal excavation and reinforcement. Each Redi-Rock block weighs one ton each, allowing walls to rely on the mass of the block for their stability. Because they require no geogrid, they can be build close to property lines or existing infrastructure. Redi-Rock gravity blocks install like one-ton Legos. Each block has a knob and groove design that automatically sets the batter. With 5.75 square feet (0.5 square meters) of face per block, walls install quickly.

The Redi-Rock solution also provided a much better look for the city than the caged rock look of the gabions. Each Redi-Rock block is cast in a mold taken from natural stone, giving projects an aesthetic stone finish. For this project, the Redi-Rock Cobblestone texture was used.

THE OUTCOME

Both walls measured approximately 16 feet (4.9 meters) in height and 90 feet (27.4 meters) long with North Coast Marine Block serving as the 7 foot (2.1 meter) base of the wall and 8 feet (2.4 meters) of Redi-Rock on top. After the base of the wall was set, approximately 1500 square feet (139.4 square meters) of Redi-Rock was installed in less than a week.

PROJECT DETAILS

Project: Ten Mile Creek Wing Walls #68 Owner: City of Sylvania, Ohio Manufacturer: Redi-Rock of Northern Ohio Installer: Fort Defiance Construction and North Coast Marine Engineer: Andrassy Engineering Location: Sylvania, Ohio Year Built: 2007