An unsightly and heavily eroded storm channel at Morehead State University recently got a much-needed upgrade that transformed the eyesore into a beautiful part of campus.
The area was "completely hemmed in" by an adjacent roadway, a new ropes course, a parking lot, and a pedestrian bridge. "We really couldn't afford to use a product that required a lot of geogrid," explained designer Chris Howard, RLA and Principal at CARMAN.
CARMAN was already working on a new recreation center nearby when they were called on to create plans to improve this drainage area.
"It's been an eyesore for quite some time and everything had been built up around it," Howard explained. "There was a lot of erosion and Morehead wanted to pipe a portion of the creek and to do a stream bank restoration on the rest."
Since a roadway is located directly adjacent to the creek, restoring the creek's channel required a retaining wall solution that didn't require a lot of geogrid. "We couldn't afford the space to fit that all in," Howard said.
These constraints reminded Howard of a project that required a similar retaining wall solution in his own home neighborhood. There, a road widening project required extensive retaining walls that could be built without encroaching on residents' properties and Redi-Rock gravity walls in the Ledgestone texture were the perfect solution. "It really looked nice for a modular system and we thought it would work well here at Morehead."
Redi-Rock® from local manufacturer Foster Supply was a great fit for this application for several reasons:
When completed, the walls for the project totaled 3,000 square feet (278.9 square meters). At the tallest point, the walls stood 9 feet (2.7 meters) above grade and were topped with Redi-Rock cap blocks and coordinating fencing. What was once an eyesore is now a beautiful part of campus.
Project: Morehead State University Storm Channel #155 Engineer: CARMAN Owner: Morehead State University; Commonwealth of Kentucky Installer: Free Contracting Manufacturer: Foster Supply Location: Morehead, Kentucky Year Built: 2012
Gravity Retaining Wall Blocks - Massive, one-ton Redi-Rock gravity blocks rely on the sheer mass of each block to hold back the earth.
Cap Blocks - Redi-Rock cap blocks are the perfect way to finish a retaining wall, freestanding wall, or column.
Ledgestone Texture Blocks - Redi-Rock Ledgestone blocks give projects a random, stacked stone look.
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