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Fast Restoration with Cobblestone Segmental Retaining Wall System

Project Name

Garwood Park Retaining Wall #129

Customer Name
Village of Saranac Lake

Design / Specifying Engineer
Joe Garso, Principal of North Woods Engineering

Block Manufacturer
Redi-Rock Walls of the Adirondacks

Wall Installer
Village of Saranac Lake

Project Location
Village of Saranac Lake, NY

Year Built
2010

Project Scope

Village DPW Replaces Historic Wall with Gravity Solution

Town uses own equipment and crew to install Redi-Rock wall in just 5 days

THE CHALLENGE

A century ago, the Village of Saranac Lake in New York built a beautiful cobblestone masonry wall to hold back a hillside and allow a road to be built. After years of doing its job though, stones ranging from baseball-size to basketball-size were falling out of the wall with each freeze and thaw, making it a hazard for pedestrians and motorists.
In 2009, the village decided it was time to tackle the issue. To find the best solution, the village contacted Joe Garso, P.E. and Principal Engineer of North Woods Engineering for a recommendation.

THE SOLUTION

"The village had a limited budget and wanted to use a product they could install themselves," Garso explained. "Redi-Rock was a great fit due to its modular nature and ease of installation. The village was able to use all their own equipment and their own crew, plus the aesthetics of the finished product looked like it fit into the village. It seemed to make the best sense to do a Redi-Rock wall here."

Redi-Rock has been used in successful road, bridge and DOT projects in multiple states and has a proven track record for building tall gravity walls, and even taller reinforced walls. With Redi-Rock, you can:

• Install massive, one-ton Redi-Rock blocks like giant Legos
• Rely on wet-cast concrete for durability in freeze-thaw cycles
• Build tall gravity walls
• Choose from three textures: Ledgestone, Cobblestone and Limestone
• Minimize excavation and road closures by using utilizing gravity solutions

"Part of the advantage of using a Redi-Rock gravity wall was that they didn’t have to dig up the park to put the wall in. They didn’t have to excavate to install grid," explained Tim Dodd of Redi-Rock of the Adirondacks.

In total, 65 linear feet of masonry wall needed to be removed and replaced. The height of the wall varied from 8 ft. to 10 ft.

To install the new Redi-Rock Cobblestone texture wall, only one lane of the road needed to be closed. The Village stored the blocks a quarter mile away at their garage and brought them to the construction site as needed during construction. In total, the wall took just 5 days to install.

THE OUTCOME

The results of this project speak for themselves:

"A lot of people were concerned when they found out that the cobble masonry wall would be replaced with a concrete block wall. But the aesthetics of the Redi-Rock Cobblestone texture has been a great fit and people have been really happy with it," Garso said.

"The DPW (Department of Public Works) was really pleased and we’ve had absolutely no problems with the wall whatsoever. It all came together really well," Dodd added.

Case Studies