Construction of a MSE Wall Under a 3 Metre Tide in the Gulf of St. Lawrence

Chadi Choufani, Bill Brockbank

In the proceedings of: GeoManitoba 2012: 65th Canadian Geotechnical Conference

Session: T2C - Harbour and Shoreline Geotechniques

ABSTRACT: As part of a waterfront upgrading project, the Town of Port Cartier constructed a 4m high wall in the Riviere-Aux-Rocher immediately upstream from the Gulf of St. Lawrence. To reduce the undesirable view of the river bottom at low tide, the base of the wall and its rip-rap toe protection, was specified to be as low as feasible but still allow for construction. At this location the daily tidal fluctuations vary from 1m to 3m presenting a very challenging location to build an MSE wall. The MSE wall system used consisted of the precast facing panels know as TerraClass and the GeoMega connection system with the polyester GeoStrap soil reinforcement designed and supplied by the Reinforced Earth Company Ltd. The use of the polyester straps was to ensure the best durability in the salt water environment. This project represented the first use of this MSE wall system in a marine and tidal environment. This paper will describe the technique used to accomplish the wall erection, the construction challenges and a description of the MSE system used.

RÉSUMÉ: bord de la Rivière-Aux-Rochers sur la rive nord du golfe du Saint-Laurent. Pour réduire la vue indésirable du fond de la le plus bas possible mais en permettant en même temps la construction. À cet endroit, les fluctuations quotidiennes des marées varient de 1m à 3m créant une situation très difficile pour construire un mur TMS. connexion GeoMega et des lanières GeoStrap en polyester pour renforcer le sol, conçus et fournis par la Société Terre Armée Ltée. première utilisation de ce système de mur TSM dans un environnement marin et en présence des marées. Cet article décrira la technique utilisée pour accomplir la consturction de ce mur, les difficultés de la construction ainsi que la description du système TSM utilisé. 1 BACKGROUND Port-Cartier is a town in Northern Quebec. It is located on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River. Like other resources of the region mainly the paper industry from the early twentieth century. Today Port-Cartier has many tourist attractions and Regional Gala for tourism in Quebec 1.1 The Project Figures 1 to 5 show the location and prior conditions of the project site. Figure 1. Site Location in Northern Quebec

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