OWNER:
Islander Motel,LLC

PROJECT ENGINEER:
McNeil Carroll Engineering, Inc.
17800 Panama City Beach Parkway
Panama City Beach, FL 32413

DESIGN/CONSTRUCT CONTRACTOR:
Synergy Earth Systems, LLC.
26240 Equity Drive
Daphne, AL 36526

GENERAL CONTRACTOR:
G.R. Harvill, Inc.
P.O. Box 9131
Mobile, AL 36691

The site for the LaQuinta Inn in Panama City Beach was located along Thomas Drive across from the Naval Base. The project site required a retaining wall along the South side of the property. The original drawings called for a concrete cast-in-place (CIP) retaining wall. The CIP design called for the stem of the wall to be a minimum of 1 foot thick. The footer was 1' 9" thick and 11' 6" wide a the highest point (14 feet). The cost to build a wall like this was extremely high and the owner and general contractor were inclined to look for a more cost-effective solution.

The general contractor, G.R. Harvill, Inc. contacted Synergy Earth Systems, LLC (SES) to find out if there was an economical alternative to the CIP wall designed for this project. SES determined that the site would be able to utilize a segmental retaining wall with geogrid reinforcement in lieu of the CIP wall which would reduce the cost by almost 50% or more. SES also worked in conjunction with the Project Engineer to minimize the amount of retaining wall comprised of segmental retaining wall units and geogrid reinforcement. The efforts by SES resulted in a cost-effective solution for the general contractor and owner. Construction of this project began in July 2005 and was successfully completed in early August 2005.

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