A Wyoming Gypsum Plant that provides an array of building and construction materials and manufactures products such as exterior/interior drywall and roof board needed to extend their existing plant floor.

The extension would replace a rail line into the building with retaining walls that would confine compacted fill materials, topped with a reinforced concrete slab.

One major challenge presented by this project was constructing a retaining wall within a pre-engineered metal building without disrupting the building’s existing foundation system. IME worked with the client to find a solution that mitigated disturbance and allowed for a ground-level walking lane.

This project utilized Inberg-Miller Engineers’ geotechnical and structural capabilities. We were able to make necessary recommendations regarding the soil load-bearing capacities which were used for the retaining wall design, confined inset backfill, and new slab-on-grade. Materials offloaded to this facility are relatively heavy, so we created a design to ensure the in-situ soils were conditioned to withstand the industrial loading.

Over the years, IME has provided this national corporation with numerous subsurface geotechnical services for both construction and improvement projects. However, this project gave us the opportunity to provide a structural solution to their unique challenge.