The new food and nutrition building was constructed near an existing precast retaining wall that bound the south side of the Cajon school campus. The wall is nearly a ¼ mile long and 25 feet high built out precast concrete. showed signs of distress due to recent seismic activities in the region and poor drainage at the sight. The movement of the wall caused concern on the 7,000 sf of the building that was recently built, and the athletic facility adjacent to the wall.
TES led a forensic team consisting of a testing lab, geotechnical engineer, and a landscape architect to assess the condition. The investigation indicated that a combination of seismic events and poor drainage were the main causes for the observed damage. TES issued an engineering report detailing the study findings and recommendations to remedy the situation to the school district. The report was reviewed and approved by DSA.
In the next phase of the project, TES developed a construction solution for the wall repair and retrofit of the remaining portions of the walls. Fiber composite wraps were adopted as a method of retrofit for the existing precast panel found to have the least impact on the school operation during construction.