Background
Buffalo Creek is a small tributary off of the Des Plains River that runs through Palatine, Illinois. The creek rarely has more than a few inches of water, however, in times of heavy rains it would swell quickly beyond its banks. In an effort to solve the ongoing flooding and erosion that can cost local businesses and the village a lot of money every year, the creek was widened and the banks stabilized using a SheerScape wall.
Project Scope
The foremost challenge of the Buffalo Creek project was finding a retaining wall solution that would work in an application with running water, but also a solution that could be installed in a very restricted site with tight property easements.
Performance
The SheerScape Retaining Wall system was the perfect solution for the site conditions and also had appealing aesthetics for local residents. The SheerScape panels were installed several feet below existing grade to insure that running water against the wall would not scour and undermine the structure.
Construction
The contractor used a Kamatsu 228 excavator to initially excavate the soil behind the wall and then replace the solid after installation of the geogrid layers. A mini-excavator was used to dig a trench for the wall panels. The contractor was requires to fully finish each section before closing the site for the day. This meant rather than excavating the entire length of the wall and installing the sheets, they had to work in small sections, further emphasizing the need for an efficient system.