SRWs and ?EUR??,,????'??Waterfall?EUR??,,????'?? Solution Enhance Bayfront Park

Mother Nature required a hand with slope erosion at Bayfront Park in Petoskey, close to Lake Michigan.

When the slope next to a waterfall at a popular park on the shores of Lake Michigan began to erode, the city of Petoskey knew it had to stabilize the slope. How to accomplish that in a nature setting of rock outcroppings, trees and shrubbery was the challenge. Also, the ?EUR??,,????'??waterfall?EUR??,,????'?? was an unsightly storm sewer culvert.

The city decided on an architectural concrete segmental retaining wall (Rosetta Hardscapes), feeling the block size, coloring (?EUR??,,????'??Lakeshore?EUR??,,????'??? blend) and look of weathered outcropping stone blended well with the cliff stone.

The waterfall is at the edge of an 18-foot cliff close to the highway. Accessing the area to prep the site and install the segmental retaining wall blocks was a chore for the contractor.

John Beckett, RLA, with Beckett and Raeder in Ann Arbor, Mich., said the choice was not only a ?EUR??,,????'??reasonable replication of the natural limestone cliff,?EUR??,,????'?? but structurally would have the mass to adequately retain the required earth fill.

The design of the approximately 700 sq. ft. retaining walls includes two-tiered walls in six-foot tall sections that flank the slope.

Now what to do with the storm sewer culvert? Rosetta of Michigan manufactured custom blocks to build a wall around the culvert and poured-in-place a concrete collar to lock everything together.

Two-tiered SRWs in six-foot tall sections, about 700 sq. ft., flank the slope. The sheer-heel blocks easily align and create a 14-degree batter for walls that can achieve heights of 6-7 feet without reinforcement and in excess of 20 feet with reinforcement.

The waterfall spillway is at the edge of an 18-foot cliff close to the highway, which made the site extremely challenging for the MDC Contracting installation crew to access. Despite that, the job was completed in about three weeks.

It?EUR??,,????'???s estimated that installing segmental blocks is about twice as fast as doing a similar job with natural stone. The installation was accomplished with minimum disturbance to the park.

Added landscaping gave the walls and waterfall site improvement the finishing touch.

?EUR??,,????'??I feel the finished project presents the appearance we envisioned,?EUR??,,????'?? Mr. Beckett said.

A wall of custom blocks around the storm sewer culvert and a concrete collar give the waterfall a natural look.