Sierra Sunrise Senior Apartments in Carmichael, California, is a community providing living units and shared space for those over 55 years of age. The property has a vibrant vegetable and rose garden, a horseshoe pit, and putting green. Because of the beauty of their property, they contacted us at American Precast so they could ensure it will be protected from flooding and small landslides.
The neighboring property sits at a higher elevation than the apartment complex. This difference in elevation was problematic – due to the flooding risk from the changing climate. The Sacramento area is a high flood risk in general due to the two rivers – the Sacramento and American rivers.
Why Precast Concrete?
Retaining walls need to be strong – dirt, especially when combined with water, can cause flooding and landslides. Landslides can cause detrimental damage to properties. When the water and debris combine, they can cause electrical systems to break, water, gas, and sewage lines to break, causing injuries, and even deaths. So how do you protect your property against landslides? Precast concrete provides the strength and durability needed while cutting costs.
Precast concrete not only has the incredible strength to withstand landslides, but it can also withstand fires, pests, and requires little to no maintenance. We know what you’re thinking next, this sounds great, but what will it look like? Precast concrete is made to order, meaning each one is extremely customizable and allows the client to choose the color and texture of the wall to resemble the beauty of wood, chisel stone, masonry, and so much more.
This client wanted a fence to match the style of the traditional wood apartment complex but knew that wood would be too susceptible to damage from water, fire, and bugs. They needed something stronger that could still match the style they wanted.
Project Details
Since the property’s exterior is made up of wood, the client wanted to mimic it. They chose our WOODCRETE™ style to create a design that would match their building exterior.
The engineering design for the wall was submitted to us by the client and was approved without many revisions by our in-house engineers. Fabrication of the precast concrete was done in our facility in El Monte with integral color for a smooth finish. After the precast concrete parts were completed, we safely delivered the materials onsite using around three full trucks.
Construction started after all the materials were delivered onsite. The project was completed in around 21 days. We used a four-person crew for this project.
The wall was engineered to be about 700 ft long and 8 ft tall. We were able to retain up to 3 ft high of dirt.
What Made This Project Special?
This project wasn’t a technically challenging one. We regularly design and install similar walls. What made this project special was knowing we were helping to keep a senior living center safe from potential floods and landslides. We value the elderly people in our lives and want to help keep them safe.
American Precast Concrete Inc.
If you would like to learn more about our precast concrete, please feel free to contact us. We are happy to assist in any way we can from helping pick the right product, colors, and size for your fence.