When Russell Creek Drive, an adjacent hike and bike trail, and retaining walls were all experiencing significant horizontal and vertical movement between Independence Parkway and Sutherland Lane in the City of Plano, standard solutions were proving inefficient. But thanks to Dallas-based civil engineering firm Pacheco Koch an innovative method was developed for global bank stabilization to prevent the roadway and trail from sliding into the creek.
The project included conceptual design alternatives for the three global slope failures, as well as preliminary design, final design, bid phase, and construction phase services for stabilization of the global slope failures and reconstruction of the adjacent road and trail. The global bank stabilization incorporated a continuous reaction beam on piers with post-tension tie-back as opposed to a traditional gravity wall, to prevent the roadway and trail from sliding into the creek. This method helped reduce the overall construction footprint while also fitting within limitations of available right-of-way. The project was broken into two phases of construction: slope stabilization and pavement reconstruction of the trail and roadway. A monitoring period with inclinometers was included in the slope stabilization phase, to help determine when movement stopped and equilibrium had been reached prior to reconstruction of pavements. Several public meetings were conducted to garner the support of the surrounding community and inform all stakeholders of the project. A pedestrian bridge in the adjacent park was added to the scope of the project as a result of the community outreach.
The services provided for this project included project management, topographic surveys, subsurface utility exploration, geotechnical investigations, USACE 404 permitting, archeological investigation, topographic survey, drainage analysis, development of preliminary construction plans, development of final construction plans and special specifications, construction administration, and bid phase services.