Category:

Structural Integrity/Design Review

Description:

A national restaurant chain was building a new facility which required an earth retention system to support their facility. The chain used an out-of-state geotechnical engineer to complete the geotechnical work and, more specifically, the earth retention system design. As the geotechnical engineer was not properly licensed in Illinois to stamp the work, they requested we review the design and certify the earth retention design.

Challenge:

The proposed earth retention system was a segmental retaining wall system with a concrete traffic barrier on top. The proposed design was an approximately 21 foot grade difference with 3 tiered retaining walls. A quick review of the geotechnical engineer’s design revealed major concerns about the structural integrity of the design. We spoke with the geotechnical engineer on several occasions to discuss our design concerns. We relayed to the geotechnical engineer the design flaws and prepared a new design without utilizing their original design. Our new design assisted in the permit approval process and enabled the walls to be built with the required structural integrity to withstand the applied loads.

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