Steve Barnett Project Overview
A cell phone tower company has a tower site at the top of a steep hill in a remote location in Eastern Tennessee. As the hill has grades as steep as 2 on 1, and averaging 3 on 1, a roughened concrete road was installed for traction to perform periodic tower maintenance. A concrete lined ditch had been installed on one side of the access road. While the cross slope on the access road directed most of the water into this concrete ditch, some water still ran along the opposite side of the road from the nearby shoulder.
This water created a drop-off along the access road that was threatening the
integrity of the road itself. Water had begun to undermine the access road’s
concrete surface and the drop-off itself was becoming a hazard. This erosion had to be arrested and future stormwater controlled before it compromised the access road.
Solution
The engineer and cell phone tower company were both trying to find better
materials and methods to solve their erosion control problems. Combat Concrete
GCCM was selected.
On the first day, the contractor was unable to relocate the swale away from the access road because of the difficult terrain. Instead, he excavated a swale directly along the side of the roughened concrete access road. Due to the steep terrain and the soil filled cobblestone, the swale surface was rough. Combat Concrete GCCM was able to conform to some rather uneven grading contours.
The contractor poured concrete for a cross culvert replacement and a couple
of spots on the roughened access road where the concrete had previously been
undermined.
On the second day (8-10 hours spread over two part days), the contractor built a rig for the front of a skid steer loader that allowed him to roll out a complete bulk roll of Combat Concrete GCCM on the access road alongside where the new swale was to be located. Then the contractor’s superintendent and his one onsite laborer easily dragged the GCCM laterally into the correct position in the swale. The far side of the CC GCCM was buried and grouted on the edge along the access road to prevent water from getting under the material.
On the third and final day, the contractor continued grouting the edge of the
concrete access road where it met the Combat Concrete GCCM.
