0 Problem
A precast concrete sound wall was constructed for the new Cavanagh Community, a partnership between some of Edmonton’s biggest land developers – Cameron Developments, MacLab Developments and Melcor. A huge portion of the land backed directly onto Highway 2 – a major highway connecting Edmonton and Calgary. As a result, the City required the developers to construct a sound wall to buffer and protect the community from noise levels generated by the high traffic volumes.
The developers considered Double-boarded wood screen, Masonry/Allan Block, Vinyl, and Recycled PVC walls. However, these were either too expensive or had a shorter service life. Therefore, precast concrete offered the best solution for this project.
TAL Solution
A 3.0-meter height sound wall was constructed in 2015 along approximately 500 lineal meters of berm to provide sound protection, privacy and aesthetics to the Cavanagh Community. Fully built, the wall will encompass 2500 square meters of fencing, including approximately 1500 square meters constructed in 2015.
Construction
We prefabricated all the posts and panels at our plant in NE Edmonton. Posts and panels were erected to their in-service position directly from the delivery trucks (Super B’s). As such, we were able to erect approximately 100 linear meters per day and be on and off the site within a couple of days.
Features & Benefits
The Problem
The Town was looking to replace the west and east entrance Town of Bon Accord welcome monuments signs which were becoming dilapidated and past their service lives. The Town wanted replacement signs which would incorporate elements of the old sign, be of high aesthetic value and be durable.
TAL Solution
For the design, we wanted to present a sign that would embody a strong sense of community, preserve elements and connections to the Town’s predominately Scottish Heritage as well as improve the sense of arrival and place for residents, visitors and motorists passing the Town on HWY 28.
By combining our Verti-Crete Architectural Precast system with some ornamental wrought iron elements produced by Behrends not only we were able to preserve elements of the old sign, we were able to also deliver on the three key elements the sign had to meet, which are:
Problem
The town of Claresholm wanted to install two additional lift stations to service a new planned 50 home and commercial subdivision. The consultant initially considered a 2400mm diameter fiberglass lift structure which presented a number of challenges. For one, the area in question had unusually high water tables which presented some buoyancy challenges. In addition, using a fiberglass product complicated site dynamics and soils management. A bigger excavation would be required and structured materials would have to be hauled in for back fill. In addition, the excavated soils would have to be hauled away for disposal elsewhere which would negatively impact the overall installed cost.
TAL Solution
Our solution was a 2.4m x 2.4m diameter x 6.4m height square precast concrete lift station which kept the same design guidelines as the fiberglass product that had been originally specified. Going this route eliminated concerns of buoyancy as the weight of the concrete castings alone was enough to overcome any buoyancy issues. Our precast concrete solution also improved the site dynamics and soils management concerns as all the excavated materials remained on site and were used for back fill, eliminating the need to haul those materials away and to haul in engineered materials for back fill. All this meant that the overall installation cost of the project was lower by at least 30 – 40% over the fiberglass product.
Construction
It took a total of 5 weeks from the time we fabricated the first piece to the time the project was complete. Onsite assembly of the lift station took less than 6 hours.