Spring Projects are Kicking Off

We are back in the thick of it here at Malco. Spring has quickly approached and the crews are working as efficiently as possible. This week we completed a retaining wall project located in Marysville. The task of this job was to demo an existing concrete wall, due to the wall being undermined, cracking, and falling apart. This wall was along a creek, so we knew our work was going to be cut out for us. To start this project, we needed to start by installing sandbags along the creek bed to divert the water, and give ourselves a dry area to work in, which is easier said than done. Once we prevented most of the water from entering the work area, we could begin breaking apart the old concrete wall. To do this, we used our CAT 305 excavator with a hammer drill, and we broke all of the concrete into smaller pieces. Once this wall was broken, we removed all of the concrete, and then could excavate the remaining soil for the new wall. The new wall was going to be installed using MagnumStone block. We had to use the hammer/breaker to excavate to the necessary depth, as we hit some bedrock. Once this excavation of the area was inspected, we could then add our 2A modified stone, which serves as the base or foundation of our retaining wall. After installing this stone and compacting, we added a thin layer of stone dust to the top so that we could adjust the wall block to ensure that it would be level. The MagnumStone block weigh approximately 1,100 pounds. To move these larger blocks, we used a chain and our Volvo E88 excavator. With the machine, and a few personnel to guide the block, we could accurately place the blocks where they needed to be. After the first course was laid, we backfilled with #57 stone. After the first course was completely installed and backfilled, we used SDR 35 perforated pipe behind the wall for drainage. To finish this wall, we used the same steps and added a few more courses. To get the area back to its natural setting, we added R5 stone to the base of the wall, and removed the sandbags from the creek. Finally, we were able to topsoil, rake, seed, and straw the disturbed areas by the wall. Take a look at some of the pictures below!