12 May 2011 – Dorset Street West was an aging roadway in a beautiful historic neighborhood in Port Hope, Ontario that desperately needed rebuilding. The most severe area was a long section of roadway embankment that was supported by a deteriorating retaining wall on a steep side slope.
The Municipality of Port Hope was challenged to widen the roadway while rebuilding the retaining wall to modern standards and factors of safety. The old retaining wall needed to be replaced with a much higher and longer wall to accommodate the increasing width of the road. However, taller and longer doesn’t always lead to aesthetically pleasing, especially in a quaint historical setting. Maintaining the historical character of the neighborhood was a vital consideration for the project.
StrataWall (marketed as TerraSteep® by Strata’s distributor Terrafix®) addressed the structural, aesthetic and economic needs of the municipality. The new retaining wall structure required was 36 feet high and nearly vertical. Challenges included the presence of a 20-foot high steep toe slope, unique landscape and aesthetic requirements for the historic setting including facing the new structure with a natural rock veneer, and working in a very congested urban site.
Solution
Terrafix designed the reinforced wall system with technical support from Strata’s engineering staff and worked together with the Port Hope Municipality and consulting engineers on the project to help address all of these challenges. They needed to create a three-tiered retaining structure with Stratagrid reinforcement to extend along the street for more than 230 feet. The wall was faced with beautiful natural stone along with attractive vegetation on the terrace of each tier that complemented the historical character of the neighborhood.
Advantages
The StrataWall welded wire form (WWF) structure is a strong, yet flexible MSE system that is easy to install and versatile enough to fit the varying conditions of the site. The wire form facing allows some movement without distressing the structure, or causing cracks. It can also tolerate a certain amount of settlement, making it a desirable solution even in relatively poor subsoil conditions. The contractor was able to complete the entire project within the tight schedule and below the project budget.
Additionally, residents were pleased with how nicely the wall complemented the character of the neighborhood. In fact, the project received the “2010 OPWA (Ontario Public Works Association) Small Municipality Public Works Project of the Year Award” in Dec 2010.
For more information about geogrid reinforcement, visit Strata www.geogrid.com or call +1 800 680 7750.
