EarthTec's Highway Wall System Gets Green Light in VA
EarthTec, a specialist in the design and supply of mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) retaining walls, has achieved approval from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) to use its EarthTrac™ HA system on highway and transportation infrastructure projects. VDOT classifies the EarthTrac system in “Category A,” thus pre-approving its use in all typical bridge abutment and retaining wall applications.
EarthTrac HA has been on VDOT’s probationary systems list since August 2007. Since then the company has carried out two VDOT-related projects to widen Spriggs Road (Phase II with Branch Highways), and to build a bridge abutment on Route 28 for Shirley Contracting.
EarthTrac HA also received approval in 2007 from Maryland’s State Highway Administration under both the Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) Specifications and the Standard (Allowable Stress) Bridge Design Specifications. Since then contractors have used the system on projects at the Greenbelt Metro redevelopment and at Prince Frederick Boulevard.
MSE has been the preferred technique for constructing earth retaining structures on publicly funded infrastructure projects since its introduction in the U.S. in 1972. EarthTrac HA represents an up-to-date embodiment of the MSE system partly because its galvanized, ribbed-steel strips that reinforce the soil are unusually wide at the point where they are bolted to the precast concrete facing panels. This maximizes strip capacity, minimizes corrosion effects, reduces the amount of steel lost to the bolt hole, and contributes to better wall performance.
“EarthTrac HA combines the best elements of traditional MSE structures and new technologies so that walls have higher factors of safety, durability, and longevity,” says Michael Cowell, P.E., president of EarthTec. “Because of this we expect to see other departments of transportation follow the lead of Maryland and Virginia.”
EarthTec provides a wide range of earth retaining solutions. In addition to EarthTrac HA, the firm also has a wire-faced MSE wall for temporary works and permanent industrial structures, which can be adapted to construct steep slopes with a stone vegetated facing.
About EarthTec
A subsidiary of GeoStructures (www.geostructures.com), EarthTec (www.earthteccorp.com) designs and supplies a range of steel- and geosynthetic-based MSE structures, primarily for use in transportation infrastructure, and commercial development projects. EarthTec solutions cover the full range of site and soil conditions, with greater flexibility of backfills, resulting in savings of both time and money.
