Red River

Railroad Siding Construction for Red River Coal Company Requires Subgrade Improvement and Tied-Back Retaining Wall Design

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Red River Coal Company was faced with numerous site constraints and difficulties in the construction of a 1.5 mile railroad siding. Several sections of the proposed siding were located over soft subgrade, and one segment would require relocation of the Guest River to meet the strict Norfolk Southern Railroad track section. GA engineers designed subgrade improvement measures combining undercutting, geogrid fabric, french drains and rockfill to reinforce problem subgrade areas. In addition, GA designed a tied-back retaining wall to meet the track section requirements and avoid relocation or disturbance to the Guest River. The tied-back retaining wall was 250 feet long and up to 12 feet high. The wall consisted of predrilled and socketed soldier piles with 100 kip tendon anchors extended to sandstone bedrock beneath the site.

Unique aspects of the retaining wall construction include that the wall was built entirely by a general contractor (Powell Construction) monitored my GA engineers, and the use of unconventional lagging for the retaining wall. Norfolk Southern required a 50 year life for the lagging, which eliminated the use of timber lagging. Rather than use expensive reinforced concrete lagging, GA selected an alternate lagging using steel Bin Wall stringers manufactured by Contech Construction Products, Inc. Construction was successfully completed during the winter of 1998.

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