Retaining Walls Blog Category

Throwback Thursday: Waterfront Property on Hamburg Lake Gets a Complete Makeover!

Thursday, September 21st, 2017

Welcome to another edition of Throwback Thursday! Today we’re going to discuss a project we completed last year for a customer on Hamburg Lake, which is located less than 3 miles from Whitmore Lake in Michigan. This was a decent sized project, which included us building not only a retaining wall behind the customer’s existing steel seawall, but also a custom stone step stair system and a brand new cantilever dock! What’s Up, Dock? The Benefits of a Cantilever Dock System More and more of our customers are choosing permanent cantilever docks these days, and there are several good reasons why! Unlike other dock systems (and as the name suggests), a “permanent” cantilever dock never has to be moved. Additionally, the dock sits completely out of the water, which means that changes in water levels or ice in the winter time do not affect the dock’s structure. This also means Read the full article…

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Wood Retaining Wall Constructed Entirely By Hand #ThrowbackThursday

Thursday, October 22nd, 2015

Today we’re going to take a look at a retaining wall construction job we did for a property on Belleville Lake, in Belleville, MI. Located in Wayne County, Belleville Lake is a man-made lake about 2 square miles in size. It was created in 1925 by the Eastern Michigan Edison Company, who made it by damming the Huron River. Fun Fact: While the lake is used primarily for fishing and boating, the dam itself has a limited number of certain species of fish, and has completely eliminated a mussel fishery that produced mother of pearl to make buttons in the early 1900s. No Machines? No Problem! We Built This Wall With Our Hands This was an interesting job for two reasons: 1) it was on a pretty severe slope (as you can see from the pictures), and 2) due to this slope, we had absolutely NO machine access! That’s Read the full article…

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Brand New Steel Seawall Installed on Lake Neva in Oakland County, Michigan

Friday, August 24th, 2012

Lake Neva steps and steel seawall installation

Seaside Seawalls has recently installed a brand new steel seawall, boardwalk, and retaining wall on Lake Neva which is located in the township of White Lake, Michigan. White Lake is a chartered township of the greater Oakland County, and has an estimated population of 30,019 residents. The township’s total area is approximately 37.2 square miles, of which 33.7 square miles is land and 3.5 square miles is water. For this current project, we first had to demolish both the customer’s existing retaining wall as well as their seawall, since a portion of the wall had completely fallen over. However, during the demolition, there were a few challenges that we encountered. Right about where the step inlet was going to be installed, we found an 8’ x 5’ x 2’ chunk of cement with rerod (rerod is basically a reinforcing material, usually steel, that is used to help with the reinforcement Read the full article…

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Maintenance Tips for Retaining Walls

Saturday, June 25th, 2011

If you have a retaining wall on your property, it is important to inspect the wall at least four times a year. We suggest you conduct a comprehensive inspection at the end of each season. Regular inspection of the structure for any damage caused by the changing seasons could keep your maintenance costs down by allowing you to spot any early signs of trouble. Examine the wall for damaged or weak areas. Look for cracks or crumbling in the mortar or concrete wall. If you have a wooden wall, inspect the timber for signs of splitting, rotting or evidence of termite or carpenter ant infestation. Also, look for any signs of shifting or movement such as any signs of sliding down the slope. Take a mental note of the way the wall leans. Retaining walls should lean into the slope, not away from it. If you have additional structures that Read the full article…

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