Civil Engineering and Construction - Introduction

Federal Bureau Of Prisons, Williamsburg, SC

Client: Federal Bureau of Prisons
Consultant: ECS
Main Contractor: Hensel Phelps

Project Specification:

This shooting range back stop was constructed with a 25' vertical height on a 1:1 slope. The embankment was stabilized in 1' lifts using GeoGrid. With the onset of a wet summer, the saturated embankment encountered a 1' shallow plane failure. The contractor, Hensel Phelps, could not line a firing range with a standard rip rap solution so the Platipus® Anchored Reinforced Grid Solution (ARGS) was chosen to stabilize the embankment.

Solution:

Geotechnical firm ECS of Greenville, South Carolina was introduced to Platipus® ARGS. As the pull out resistance of the anchor could be field tested to meet the stabilization requirements, the Engineers felt comfortable incorporating it into their design. Using Platipus® S4 ARGS Percussive Driven Earth Anchors (PDEAs) driven through High Performance Turf Reinforcement Matting (HPTRM) to 2½' beyond the failure plane, the embankment was stabilized and the surface was protected against erosion.

This low impact solution allowed the contractor to use lightweight hand-held equipment to install the system.

It also eliminated the need for heavy equipment that would have been required to rebuild the berm.