The Challenge
Located in the fast-growing Twin Cities suburb of Woodbury, Minnesota, the Tamarack Village project presented several challenges. A brand-new development created from the ground up out of corn and soybean fields, the project involved the creation of shopping areas, businesses and parking lots, all of which required extensive hardscaping. Contractors faced the challenge of installing 35,000 square feet of retaining wall, creating a land bridge and a detention pond, all while keeping within state and city building codes and watershed requirements.
The Solution
Completing the project required extensive coordination among the developers, engineers and contractors, especially involving the creation of the detention pond. According to lead contractor Matt Barron of Burnsville, Minnesota-based Hardscape Construction, Inc., the contractors had to work quickly to install the retaining wall before any rain had a chance to fall.
“We timed the construction of the pond during July and August, when we wouldn’t be as likely to have any rain,” Barron said. “We had to plan out what to build each day to make sure it went up on time.”
Barron agreed that using the Diamond Pro Stone Cut® retaining wall system played a large part in the success of the project.
“I’ve been working with the Anchor™ products for years, and I think that of all the distressed-face styles of block out there, the Diamond Pro Stone Cut block is the easiest to install and work with,” Barron said. “I think if we had used a traditional beveled-face block, the site would have been overwhelmed with gray concrete. The Diamond Pro Stone Cut wall system has a much more natural, stone-like appearance in its face and color. You end up seeing the whole site at once, not just the retaining walls.”
The Results
In the end, everyone was pleased with how the project turned out. Tamarack Village is now a thriving shopping and business area that continues to grow, and the planning and construction efforts of the engineers and contractors have clearly paid off.
“It’s definitely a keepsake project for our company—we’re really proud of it,” Barron said. “We plan on showing this one off for a long time.”
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