The growth of a successful business requires expansion; and expansion often means relocation. When an existing site cannot accommodate the needed building additions, moving an entire operation can be costly, including significant downtime. Retaining walls can provide an economical solution.
In the right circumstances retaining walls provide a unique opportunity to create useable land. Some may say you can’t make new land but retaining walls do just that! Recently, SFC Engineering helped a leading New England distributor of wines and spirits grow. With the constriction of two large block retaining walls, the facility was able to expand at their existing location. This distributor proposed the construction of a new building with floor area of 600,000 sf, doubling their available warehouse space. Existing site grades were prohibitive for the new 1,000-foot-long building and the nearby conservation land further restricted any development.
SFC helped meet the challenge by designing retaining walls that leveled the site. Two large retaining walls were constructed around the perimeter of the development. One of the walls is 900 feet long and 15 feet tall and the second is 600 feet long and eight feet tall.
These large block retaining walls maximized the useable land area on the property by replacing the steep side slopes with vertical walls. The new retaining walls made it possible to expand on the existing site without the prohibitive cost and stress of relocation.
Retaining walls are a great solution for many site development challenges. SFC has the expertise to help you use retaining walls to your advantage.
SFC Engineering serves private industry, municipalities, and other government agencies throughout New England. Contact Jeff Benway at jbenway@sfceng.com or Nicole Provencher at nprovencher@sfceng.com to learn how we can help you.