Tag Archives: Retaining Walls

MagnumStone Retaining Wall Makes Olympic Sized Debut

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The 2010 Olympics were built on some very extreme conditions. Whistler villageis surrounded by the Northwest rain forest and some of the most beautiful mountainous landscapes in the world.

MagnumStone At 2010 olympics

Emil Anderson Construction was challenged and awarded the contracts for building the sites sliding center and ski jump areas. The sliding center included bobsleigh, luge and skeleton tracks. The total length of the sliding track to be built was 5,600ft (1700 Meters).

MagnumStone At 2010 Olympics

MagnumStone Retaining Wall was chosen for bridge abutments, complex grade changes and general gravity retaining walls. MagnumStone is 2ft high x 4ft long. 8 sq ft total. The unique hollow core designs allows for a lighter weight using less cement and shipping.

The thing that makes this project unique is that the General Contractor was able to manufacture the retaining wall units on site. Saving money, environment and shipping costs.

MagnumStone Mold Being Pulled Apart

Needless to say the 2010 Olympics were a huge success. I am sure that we would be proud to say that it was because of the MagnumStone but I am pretty sure it was every party that was involved. From the visitors to the volunteers.

Built: 2007 / 2008
Total Sq ft: 46,000 sq ft
Max Height: 4m (14 ft) High
Owner: VANOC (Vancouver Olympic Committee)
General Contractor: Emil Anderson Construction
MagnumStone Producer: Emil Anderson Construction
Wall Installer: Emil Anderson

CornerStone Retaining Wall Makes a Splash

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The aggressive terrain of the Sno-Cove Water Park presented several challenges which were all met by the use of Cornerstone 100 unit. The steep terrain required some block retaining walls to hold up the extreme slopes.

CornerStone 100 Used In Water Park Wall

 The tallest retaining wall structure on the site topped out at nearly 52’ and standard geogrid practices were used. Pro-Gro Landscape, Inc. worked through the winter months on the fast track project in order to keep on schedule. They truly appreciated the fact that they did not have to fumble with clumsy pins or connectors due to the Cornerstone 100’s Secure Lug connection.

PoolSide Retaining Wall

A total of seven walls were constructed at the site consisting of gravity and geogrid reinforced designs.

CornerStone Retaining Wall At Water Park

The superior strength and ease of construction made the Cornerstone 100 unit a perfect fit to the job.

Manufacturer: LibertyStone Hardscaping Systems
Wall Installer: Pro-Gro Landscape, Inc.
Developer / Owner: Sno Mountain, LLC
General Contractor: Scandale Associated Builders & Engineers, LTD.
Architect /Designer: Pennoni Associates, Inc.
Engineer: L2A Land Design, LLC

 

Roof Top Planter using CornerStone 100

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I think that the idea of creating roof top planters or roof garden and reducing the urban heat island effect in urban environments is really quite brilliant. Why not try? At the very least we create a small green zone that can be someone’s small oasis in the middle of a large City.

Roof top planters or roof garden can be built and designed very easily using CornerStone 100 products. Our hollow core segmental retaining wall blocks has been a great option for many landscape Architects and Engineers in and around the city of Calgary, Alberta Canada.

Rigid insulation and filter fabric are used to protect the root barrier from freeze thaw and soil migration.

CornerStone 100 roof top planter

Plenty of lighting was used throughout the planters. They look like small grates and shine the light down for easy walking at night. The hollow core allows for contractors to easily install wiring and make small cuts.

CornerSone 100 Roof Top Planter

Notice the amount of trees and variety of shrubs for such a cold climate. This surprised me the most. When you’re getting temperatures of -31f (-35c) and the trees are still surviving you realize that something is being done right. Perhaps it’s the care in the landscaping, or in the design of using the rigid insulation to protect the roots. Here is a rendering showing one of many different option for designing you CornerStone roof top planters. Always remember to consult with the structural engineer for Live and Dead load capabilities.

Another great resource for the on slab pavers and roof drains can be found here at the ICPI (International Concrete Pavement Institute) website.