OWNER:
Alabama State Docks
P.O. Box 1588
Mobile, Alabama 36633-1588

PROJECT ENGINEER:
Harper & Garratt Engineering, Inc.
722 Shelton Beach Road
Saraland, Alabama 36571

SPECIALTY DESIGN ENGINEER:
Synergy Earth Systems, LLC.
26240 Equity Drive
Daphne, Alabama 36526

GENERAL CONTRACTOR:
John G. Walton Construction Company, Inc.
P.O. Box 81222
Mobile, Alabama 36689

Construction of the Berth 2 to 5 Container Storage Facility required that the site grade be raised by up to 5 feet along the property boundary. SES designed a mechanically stabilized earth retaining wall to provide the required grade separation. SES also supplied the modular block facing units and geosynthetics for the wall to the General Contractor. One unique aspect of the design of the wall was that the geogrid reinforcement had to be designed to carry the 1000 psf surface load applied by the heavy containers. The walls had a total length of nearly 1400 feet and a maximum height of 5.67 feet. The construction was successfully completed during the summer of 1999.