Costco™ pad site delivery is moving forward rather quickly. The site no longer looks like a scene from the Lorax™ and the developer has the building foundation has been treated and ready for the building contractor to move in.
This is looking east from Platte Purchase at what I am assuming is chemically treated subgrade for the building. I say assumed because I didn't really want to go down and sniff if it was fly-ash or not since it's such a nasty compound and the soil looks like it is treated (side comment, the instant and long term environmental footprint of big boxes like this are amazing yet I know quite a few lefties who can't wait to drive their cars to buy massive tubs of mayonnaise).
I don't understand the site grading plan. It required a massive (and more environmentally damaging because rock and concrete just don't naturally fall from the sky) retaining wall. This is looking northeast at the retaining wall along the north side of the building. The eastbound Route 152 on ramp is on the left side of the picture.
The retaining wall itself is a "large block" wall which is a product I like because they are basically heavy "Lego" blocks stacked on top of each other and the weight of the blocks offsets the weight of the soil behind the wall to about 10-12 feet. If these walls get over that height, they are required to have a grid mesh put between the blocks and that mesh is supposed to interlock with rock or soil. This interlocking provides horizontal friction along with the vertical weight of the block to keep the wall from falling over. Below is a picture looking southeast from Platte Purchase at the contractor putting in rock over the mesh.
Here I'm standing at the southeast corner of Platte Purchase and 152 looking east at the northern wall. The blue metal poles are markers for a 24" waterline. The flattened building pad is on the right side of the picture. The eastbound Route 152 on ramp is on the left side of the picture.
Here I am looking west from the eastern edge of the wall towards Platte Purchase. The Route 152 on-ramp and under construction Route 152 Trail are on the right side of the picture.
My kids can't wait to climb this one.
I uploaded some video of the site as it sat August 13th. This is from the intersection of NW 88th Street and Platte Purchase looking north than panning towards the east.
Here I'm standing on Platte Purchase at 152 and panning from north to south.
I've blogged about soil nail, soldier pile, and gabion style walls before if you want to learn more. You can also watch this video to see more how large block walls work.
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