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8 Concrete Masonry DesignsAs with any community that onceconsidered themselves small,the community of Mount Pleasant,South Carolina has seenmajor population growth over the years.With this growth the traffic congestion andnoise have continued to increase to a pointthat South Carolina Department of Transportation(SCDOT) traffic studies gavethe US 17 corridor a ‘D’ Grade. This poorgrade was only projected to get worse,forcing the SCDOT and the city to developa plan to expand and upgrade the corridor.The upgrade was not only to relieve trafficcongestion but also to reduce the increasingnoise problems to the surroundingresidential neighborhood. Mount Pleasanthad no sound walls anywhere in the cityand for their first project they wanted to seta high quality standard. The city chose anSRW fence system for the aesthetic quality,the noise reduction performance, and itscompetitive cost.The SCDOT and city engineers workedclosely together during the planning process todevelop a solid plan. The design followed theAASHTO Guide Specifications for StructuralDesign of Sound Barriers. Steven Johnsonof George A. Z. Johnson, Jr., Inc., used theAASHTO wind loading of 90 mph (145 km/hr), multiplied by a customary 30 % increasefor wind gusts for his final design. The designof the posts and panels followed manufacturerguidelines, which call for structurally reinforcedcolumns and dry-stacked block panelswith predetermined courses reinforced andcast solid as bond beams. The system worksBarrier WallGets APassingGrade FromSCDOTas a traditional post and panel system with thepanels transferring loads laterally to the postsand the posts transferring loads to the drilledshaft footings. Due to the larger coastal windloads and AASHTO requirements, the projectutilized a larger post block, which greatlyincreases the post capacity.Because this was the first SRW fence projectfor general contractors, Gulf Stream Construction,they invited a specialist to the site to traintheir installers. The installation crew caughton quickly and were off to the races. Theyfollowed the manufacturer installation guideclosely and brought in a few of their owntricks along the way while maintaining thehigh quality of the system.Due to the tight schedule, Gulf Streamdecided to mass-produce the bond beamsby precasting them off-site and truckingthem to the site. Because the project calledfor random blocks to be flipped back andforth for added facial texture, extra time wasrequired to achieve the high aesthetic qualityof each panel. To reduce installation time andmaintain a consistent pattern, Gulf Stream hadthe same crew that built the bond beams alsoplace the dry-stacked pattern block at the sitethat go between each bond beam.The speed at which the SRW fence systemcan be installed was one of the many factorsthat made this project such a success. TheCity of Mount Pleasant was so happy with theoverall project that they have chosen SRWfence systems for another 2011 US 17 expansionproject which includes 4 separate wallstotaling over 55,000 square feet (5100 squaremeters). CMD