More Than Meets The Eye By Utah Construction & Design Magazine
Village Station at Eaglewood defined by top-shelf amenities and complex site requirements, including a stout perimeter rock fall barrier system.
By Brad Fullmer
At first glance, Village Station at Eaglewood looks like any number of the dozens of multi-family projects sprouting up along the Wasatch Front—a stylish, two-building (181 units), four-story complex in North Salt Lake replete with a plethora of fun, modern amenities.
What people won't notice at a cursory glance or know about the site itself—nestled right up against the mountainside—is that it required an extra level of ingenuity from a geotechnical standpoint, including "scaling" the hill of any loose boulders, rocks or other debris deemed to be dangerous, according to Tonya Timothy, Project Manager for Salt Lake-based Penatalon Construction.
Pentalon partnered with GeoStabilization International of Commerce City, Colorado, for rock scaling and the installation of a stout rock fall barrier system. Any rocks deemed a potential fall hazard by geotechnical engineers were removed, with cables and airbags aiding the process. The 600-ft. long, 8-ft. high rock barrier fence is indeed robust—it can withstand 500 kilojoules of force—with posts solid grouted 20 ft. deep and large cabling systems connected to the RMC ICAT fencing system. A 16-ft. by 300-ft. soil nail and shotcrete wall was also installed, comprised of multiple rows of grout-injected soil nail hollow bars embedded at various lengths (15-30 ft.) with shotcrete facing and swale for additional drainage.
"That was impressive," said Timothy of the entire scaling process and fencing system. "If you just look at it, you have no idea how much work was involved—people just can't appreciate it!"
Engineers also required Pentalon to surcharge building pads and place monitoring plates six months prior to any construction to detect any settlement.