• Home
• Company
• Case Studies
• Shoreline: ID Wall Prevents Erosion at Home

Coastal and Beach Shoreline Erosion Control Wall

Project Name

Farnworth Wall #101

Customer Name
The Farnworth Family

Design / Specifying Engineer
JUB Engineering

Block Manufacturer
Wilbert Precast, Inc.

Wall Installer
Randy's Mechanical

Project Location
Hope, ID

Year Built
2008

Project Scope

Like any lakeshore home owner, Randy Farnworth was concerned with the erosion that was eating away at his yard every year. His home sits on a bluff above Lake Pend Oreille, a scenic lake in northern Idaho that is known for its serene views and laid-back lifestyle.

"Since 1952, we’ve lost 50 feet of lake frontage from erosion. We got the idea for a Redi-Rock retaining wall after seeing what they were doing down at Flathead Lake in Montana. That's why we decided to go that direction," Farnworth said.

Farnworth contacted local Redi-Rock manufacturer Wilbert Precast of Spokane, Washington who helped with a preliminary design for the wall. The design call for a wall ranging from 8 ft. tall to 23 ft. tall and was 360 ft. long. After the wall design and geogrid reinforcement was approved by an engineer, the project began the permitting process.

"Some people thought that the wall would really detract from the scenery, but when you get out on the lake you can't really even see the wall," Farnworth said. "It kind of just fades right into the landscape."

Farnworth, who is a general contractor, said he liked using Redi-Rock because "it's less labor intensive than a smaller product. It went up relatively fast and it's very stable. We're faced directly into the wave action that comes off the lake and I'm confident that this wall can withhold that."

The easy installation of Redi-Rock big blocks was a major selling point for the project. Regulations stipulate that work could only take place in the lake bed during a short window of time. To comply with this, Farnworth's crew set the first few courses of block, then built a road behind the wall so that they could build from behind the wall, rather than from the lakebed. The wall was built using cobblestone texture Redi-Rock blocks and reinforced using 13-14 feet of geogrid behind the wall.

Property on Lake Pend Orielle is valuable, Farnworth explained. A lot for sale next door to the Farnworth's property is on the market for $1.2 million, he says, so he feels strongly about keeping the erosion of his shoreline to a minimum.

"A bunch of our neighbors have come over to look at the wall and want to do something similar on their properties," Farnworth said.

Case Studies