Oldcastle Precast supplies retaining wall system for PENNDOTs largest project ever

Philadelphia — Oldcastle Precast supplied more than 330,000 square feet of The Neel Company’s Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PENNDOT) approved T-WALL Retaining Wall System for Philadelphia’s Interstate 95 Corridor Reconstruction Project.

Ultimately, on separate contracts for Interstate-95 sections CP1, CP2, GR2, and GR3, Easton-based Oldcastle Precast manufactured and delivered approximately 220,000-square-feet of retaining wall units to construct 22 T-WALL retaining walls. In addition, Oldcastle Precast is currently delivering 110,000-square-feet of T-Wall for eight retaining walls on the I-95/I-276 Pennsylvania Turnpike Interchange project, now in construction.

T-WALL, a modular precast concrete retaining wall system, utilizes engineered self-anchoring bridge abutment and retaining wall units designed for walls up to 50 feet-high and engineered to handle up to Cooper E-90 freight train loads for railroad projects.

Successfully used throughout Pennsylvania since 1988, the T-WALL Retaining Wall System offers a convenient “set it and forget it” solution. T-WALL is specified due to its ability to fit within tight construction limits, the ease of installation, in-place cost-effectiveness, and long-term service life.

Each precast concrete T-WALL unit is a 5-foot or 7.5-foot-wide, up to 10-foot-high, rectangular face, with an integral stem that extends into the retained earth. The stem length varies depending on the height of the wall and the wall loads. T-Wall is constructed by stacking the individual units in rows and columns, and then backfilling between the units with a wide range of select backfill. Ready to place into the structures, T-WALL units arrive at each construction site and are unloaded by equipment that is available on-site for other purposes.

“The production presented quite a few challenges on a project management end, ranging from the overall size of the projects, number of individual units needed, yard storage of finished product, and coordinating the proper manpower needed to maintain the commitments that were set forth,” said Mike Magalhaes, Purchasing Agent / Production Scheduler for Oldcastle Precast. “One of the biggest obstacles, on a project of this size, was coordinating and scheduling the production of all the retaining wall components required for each individual retaining wall and meeting the demanding construction schedules. With all the varying piece types and long range timeframes, making the T-WALL units sequentially and managing the precast mold availability, based on the customer’s needs, was vital to the flow of the I-95 projects.”

Regional Manager for The Neel Company John Dallain commented, “We are very pleased with the quality of the product and the service provided by Oldcastle Precast for The Neel Company and our customers. Oldcastle Precast’s excellent customer service, on-time production, and delivery have been instrumental in the success of these projects.”

The I-95 projects are part of the $350 million Pennsylvania Interstate I-95 Revive Initiative, a long-term, multi-phase infrastructure initiative to improve and rebuild I-95 in Pennsylvania, one of the most traveled highways on the United States’ East coast. Five major projects to reconstruct I-95 between the I-676 and Cottman Avenue interchanges in Philadelphia are now in various stages of design, construction or have been completed, including active construction projects at the Girard Avenue, Betsy Ross Bridge/Aramingo Avenue, and Cottman Avenue interchanges.

Tony Depaul and Son, I-95 Section CP1; WALSH Construction, I-95 Section CP2; James J. Anderson, I-95 Sections GR2 and GR3; and PKF-Mark III, I-276/I-95 Section D10 are the general contractors for these projects. The Neel Company, Springfield, Va., designs and licenses the T-Wall retaining wall system.