Retaining Wall Design Near Terre Hill, Pa

When Nancy first reached out to us, she was getting weary of maintaining a steeply sloped lawn at their home in Ephrata, PA.  Their lawn sloped steeply to the road, and there were several close calls when mowing their front yard!  To develop a safe solution for maintaining their yard, a retaining wall was determined to be the best solution to reduce the unsafe slope.

A unique part of this design is that Nancy’s home is on a corner property with an unusual intersection, causing there to be additional concerns for safety.  To design this retaining wall properly, we had several onsite meetings with township representatives. This was largely due to concerns with the sight triangles of the intersection and whether the proposed retaining wall would exacerbate the existing poor visibility issues. After our meetings with the township, we were able to develop a plan that suited everyone’s needs and desires.

On one street, there were no visibility concerns, and we were able to keep the wall just outside the road right of way.   However, near the corner of the property, the retaining wall was designed to begin curving further away from the street. This offered better visibility to the drivers on the road, by removing much of the original bank.  

At 360 linear feet, this retaining wall is relatively large!  While the existing grade sloped all the way to the street, the new grading allows for proper stormwater management. The water is now able to flow off the street and down to a drain inlet.  To do this there were many triaxle loads of fill dirt removed from this site as we needed to cut into the bank to place the wall in its needed location.  As we came upon the completion of this yard, it was determined that the soils were rather poor, so quality topsoil was imported during the final grading to improve the quality of the turf and allow for proper grass regeneration.

Throughout the project, we were able to coordinate multiple deliveries of retaining wall blocks and gravel. We were also able to keep the street clear of mud and debris, just as the township had requested.  The township roadmaster had multiple job site visits to our project and was impressed with the quality of the installation.  The end results were improved visibility and safety for the drivers at the intersection and a much easier front lawn for Nancy to maintain!  It was a pleasure working with Nancy on this retaining wall project!

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