City: Atlanta
State: Georgia
Owner: Georgia DOT
General Contractor: C.W. Mathews Contracting

Project Description:
The Georgia Department of Transportation determined that the busy intersection at I-285 and Memorial Drive was in need of improvements. They decided to contract for the removal and reconstruction of the existing Memorial Drive Bridge, along with upgrading the exit and entrance ramps at the interchange. The new design called for the construction of numerous retaining walls.

Schnabel was awarded a contract to design and construct 12 different walls involving both permanent and temporary support of excavation. The largest and most significant quantity of work involved temporary shoring to support the embankments parallel to I-285 leading up to the Memorial Drive Bridge. This shoring was required to allow construction of the proposed mechanically stabilized earth walls, which would act as support at the bridge abutments and extend beyond the bridge parallel to the highway on both the northbound and southbound sides of the highway.

Schnabel recognized that it would be more cost effective to construct these walls as permanent tieback walls and eliminate the need for temporary shoring. This change was proposed to the highway department as a value engineering proposal and accepted. This project involves approximately 127,000 square of permanent and temporary shoring, including six (6) temporary soil nail walls, two (2) temporary tieback walls, and four (4) permanent tieback walls.