Concrib builds first Stone Strong interlocking block retaining wall in Australia
Project Quick Facts:
| Project | Gilston Road Upgrade, Gold Coast, Qld |
| Client | Gold Coast City Council |
| Stats | Two Stone Strong walls with heights up to 6 metres, totalling 525 square metres face area. |
| Consultant | Stone Strong / Fraser Geologics Ltd (NZ) |
| Geotech Consultant | Morrison Geotechnic Pty. Ltd. |
Concrib recently won a tender by the Gold Coast Council for the design, construction, and certification of the first Stone Strong retaining wall System in Australia. The project involved building several retaining walls at different locations around a road upgrade site. Two of these walls comprised Stone Strong Systems (the first of their kind in Australia). These novel retaining wall systems are built from fully engineered interlocking concrete blocks, finished with aesthetically pleasing patterns and coloured sealants if required.
Project challenges
- Limited access to site area and limited space to store blocks for construction.
- Service locations (e.g. power/sewer/stormwater lines)
- Upon initial excavation for detailed foundation earthworks, some sections of the subgrade were found to have insufficient bearing capacity for the design parameters of the walls.
Concrib's solutions
In response to these challenges, the Concrib team took steps to ensure that the project would succeed. These included:
- Concrib initiated a "just in time" delivery schedule for the blocks. Two to three times daily during build operations, a semi-trailer would shuttle between Concrib's casting yard and the site. Each time delivering the exact amount of blocks required for each section under construction. Once this was done, back-filling operations could proceed uninterrupted.
- Taking service trench locations into account, and incorporating location specific treatments (such as deeper piers for some sections of the sleeper walls, as well as bridging piers and slabs).
- Removing unsuitable sub-grade material and replacing it with imported select fill, which was compacted and certified to 98% standard M.D.D. (This work was carried out by Gold Coast City Council.)
The benefits of Stone Strong Systems
Stone Strong Systems are designed and manufactured for ease-of-use, versatility, longevity, and aesthetic appeal. Some of the benefits of these unique interlocking block retaining walls include:
1. Safe, secure, strong
Stone Strong Systems provide ideal earth stabilisation solutions for many diverse projects from shoreline protection, dump walls, and erosion control applications. Retained heights are only limited by the imagination, with straight gravity solutions up to 4.5 metres and reinforced earth applications well in excess of 10 plus metres readily available.
2.Innovative design and exceptional support
These fully engineered precast interlocking block retaining walls have earned a solid reputation for technical innovation and each installation is backed by Concrib's unparalleled customer support.
The attractive webbed block design minimises concrete volume and transport/handling weight, while maximising geotechnical performance.
Stone Strong's main large block is 2.44m x .92m. So with a face area of 2.25 square metres per block, installation is rapid.
3. Peace of mind
When it comes to quality, the precision manufacturing and superior design of each block ensures that these walls are built to last. Close dimensional tolerances, robust structural design, and 50mPa concrete, allows for a minimum 100-year design life within a broad range of applications and engineering settings.
4. Aesthetic appeal
In addition to their exceptional durablility and versatility, Stone Strong Systems provide attractive and affordable earth stabilisation solutions. This is achieved through the decorative effects of facing patterns (such as chiselled stone or split blocks). Additionally, blocks can be coloured with a variety of special concrete sealants.
