The objective was to elevate a pair of side-by-side railroad tracks along the Burlington Northern Santa Fe right-of-way through the downtown traffic corridor. After completion, the project would provide new grade separations, connecting five new bridges and one rehabbed bridge along a 1.8-mile strip, allowing both trains and vehicles to flow unimpeded through eight major thoroughfares.

Due to the unique design of StrataSlope™, mechanical support for the heavy loading was achieved by installing horizontal layers of StrataGrid™ at 18’ intervals (one layer per wire basket) all the way to the top of the wall, with additional structural stability provided by a facing of temporary wire baskets. These were backfilled with pit sand and wrapped in a blanket of microgrid face wrap.

The site was monitored for several months after completion. The movement in the trackbed was measured using eight monitoring pins. The extensive surveillance validated the fact that even with a heavy load, the structure never moved more than half-inch in any direction, including vertical settlement.

Strata’s innovative environment-friendly solution provided increased lifespan with low maintenance.