MSE WALLS & SLOPES PROJECT PROFILE

Port Mann / Highway 1 Improvement

The Sierra® Slope Retention At 65 metres wide, the new Port Mann Bridge System offers a greener, more has officially been recognized by the Guinness cost-effective solution than Book of World Records as the widest bridge in the world. The 10-lane bridge is also the concrete panel walls. second longest cable-supported bridge in North America. LOCATION: Lower Mainland, Challenge PRODUCT: The Mechanically Stablized Earth (MSE) aspects Sierra® Slope of the project were originally exclusively SierraScape® specified as concrete panel walls with steel PROJECT PARTNERS: reinforcement. In addition, with the widening of Owner the highway, the walls were being built on soft BC Ministry of Transportation soils within space constraints and the contractor Consultant needed to replace lost green space. MEG Consulting Thurber Engineering Solution Contractor Kiewit/Flatiron General Partnership Nilex approached Kiewit/Flatiron and the Completion Date BC Ministry of Transportation (MoT) with an December 2013 alternative solution consisting of Sierra Slope and SierraScape. Sierra Slope has a naturally The Port Mann/Highway 1 improvement is a $2.5 vegetated face and would maximize the use of billion project which included the construction the restricted construction space. It is lower in of the new Port Mann Bridge, widening of cost than concrete retaining walls and would Highway 1, replacing nine highway interchanges effectively replace the specified panel walls. and improving safety. The project spanned a The flexible nature of Sierra Scape makes it distance of approximately 37 kilometres from well suited for applications prone to differential to Langley, British Columbia. settlement. Port Mann / Highway 1 Improvement

In addition to providing the MSE systems, Nilex Results provided RhinoskinTM to protect the Expanded The SierraScape Retaining Wall System and Polystyrene (EPS) lightweight fill, NuDrainTM the Sierra Slope Retention System provided a WD15 to assist with drainage of the bridge greener, more cost-effective solution than the abutments, silt fence and erosion control originally specified concrete panel walls. Nilex’s products to prevent sediment contamination of recommended solution allowed the contractor local water courses, Tensar Biaxial Geogrids for to significantly reduce the equipment and time subgrade and base reinforcement, and Tensar required for installation. The new Port Mann Uniaxial Geogrids cast into Lock-Block walls Bridge is projected to sustain Vancouver’s traffic which separated east and west bound traffic growth over the next two decades. lanes. All of Nilex’s solutions were on the MoT’s approved products list. In July 2014, the Port Mann/Highway 1 Improvement Project was the recipient of the Nilex also performed a FLAC analysis to Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Engineering detail how the system would react during an Excellence in British Columbia. This award earthquake. is presented annually by the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies of British Columbia to recognize excellence in engineering in a number of disciplines. Nilex’s work was recognized along with the project’s other major partners.

Installation Approximately 40 MSE structures were installed over the duration of this four-year project. Each wall was installed by hand only requiring excavators and bobcats for back fill placement, and bulldozers and vibratory riding rollers for compaction. Nilex was on site at least once per week to provide installation guidance.

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Rev. 01/2015