The price of progress isn’t always cheap and it can also be a little noisy. At least, that’s what the residence feared when the city proposed an expansion of the E-470 toll road from Parker Road to Quincy Avenue in Aurora, Colorado a suburb east of Denver. Everyone hates traffic but the expansion of infrastructure to handle it is costly and brings with it some unwelcome consequences. Trying to string a balance between form and function the E-470 Public Highway Authority proposed a Verti-Crete sound wall that was cost effective — actually effective – and, perhaps most importantly, attractive. Through a series of public meetings, coordinated with local municipalities, they proposed a sound wall that not only provided an acoustic and visual screen for the homeowners but also included an architectural finish that added beauty to that function.
Precast and Project Management
The road expansion was set up as a CMGC project with Kraemer North America serving as both General Contractor (GC) and as Contract Manager (CM) during the feasibility and planning phases. During this planning phase Kraemer consulted with Verti-Crete in Salt Lake City, Utah on the panel design and architectural finish. Verti-Crete provided 3D renderings to model both the form liner and several design options to help the team arrive at the final selection. The sound walls were manufactured by Olympus Precast using Verti-Crete’s Panel Stacker System and custom form liners. Verti-Crete’s space saving Panel Stacker systems are poured vertically, saving both labor and production space. They also produce a molded architectural finish on both sides of each panel so everyone’s happy.
“The cost savings in these battery molds is a game changer for us,” said Brian Swain, PM for Olympus Precast. “It not only frees up labor that’s badly needed on other projects, it also gives us the best looking product.”
“The cost savings in these battery molds is a game changer for us,” said Brian Swain, PM for Olympus Precast. “It not only frees up labor that’s badly needed on other projects, it also gives us the best looking product.”“The cost savings in these battery molds is a game changer for us,” said Brian Swain, PM for Olympus Precast. “It not only frees up labor that’s badly needed on other projects, it also gives us the best looking product.”
Sound Abatement
Shear walls can reflect back and forth between themselves like an echo in a canyon. In contrast, the deep angular architectural finish on the E-470 sound walls actually breaks up the sound waves which reduces this echoing effect and therefore the amount of sound that transfers beyond its barrier. While some of the sound is absorbed the wall is still considered a “reflective” sound wall but the acoustic refraction caused by its angular surface disrupts the sound waves by bouncing them back in hundreds of different directions. This is a formed concrete finish that really does perform as well as it looks.
Happy People
The recently completed sound wall along this section of E-470 runs over 5,000 lineal feet with more likely to come in the future. The northbound section provides a beautiful barrier for the homeowners. The south bound section is primarily there to provide a barrier between the new bike path and the road traffic. “The residents here love the wall,” said Mike Fay, PM for Kraemer North America. “Several homeowners have even asked if they could extend the wall around their properties. And it looks like the Public Highway Authority plans to use it on several new sections because it turned out so well.”