The Walnut Hills Cemetery had a cast in place concrete wall that had deteriorated and began to lean over time. Civil Solutions Associates (CSA) provided a design build solution to replace the existing retaining wall. The project required a great deal of sensitivity and forethought to prevent the disturbance of the gravesites. The graves above the wall were still frequented so it was very important that the team contained the construction and kept access around the wall open.

CSA proposed a beam and lagging wall with the lagging consisting of precast concrete panels. The panels were molded with a stone texture finish to provide a more natural look. The greatest hurdle faced was the decision to install the new wall upslope or downslope of the existing wall. Both options provided their own unique challenges. The largest challenge to both options was the accuracy of the plot layouts and record drawings to ensure the beam spacing would accommodate the plot layouts. After many different layouts and with constructability in mind, CSA decided the best option was to install the wall downslope.

Conceptually CSA came up with an 8’ typical spacing plan. However, based on the plot layout, CSA determined that the best layout consisted of a 16’ spacing with a central bay of 6’. This would make the wall look symmetrical and miss the plots as they were laid out.

During construction CSA worked hand in hand with the entire team. The cemetery moved the smaller headstones to gain access to the wall area and CSA moved all of the larger head-stones. McGill Smith Punshon did an initial survey of all of the head stones to be moved. This allowed us to replace all of the headstones in the exact same spots. They also did the entire layout for construction.