In 2006, ground was broken for a new C. H. Robinson Worldwide, Inc. headquarters building. The property bordered a regional airport located just outside Minneapolis, MN. A retaining wall to handle a 30 foot grade separation (a cut into an existing hillside) between the airport property and the new headquarters site was needed. The soils were very sandy and given the proposed location of the wall, any cut into the hillside would require a construction easement from the airport authorities.

Recon was retained by Stahl Construction to assist with the planning of the wall. On the architectural side, Recon worked closely with Pope Associates to decide on a stone texture and color that met the needs of the customer. A decision was also made to incorporate the Recon Plinth Block, which protrudes from the face of the wall to create a unique detail throughout the wall. In addition, the architect decided to use the Recon Three Quarter Block (just 36” wide) randomly throughout the wall to break up the uniformity of the vertical joint spacing. The result was a wall that utilized the large scale offered by Recon combined with several customized architectural features.

On the engineering side, Recon engaged Civil Solutions Group to design the wall. The team worked with the airport authorities to secure the construction easement. As a part of those discussions, the Recon wall was designed to accommodate a possible new road that the airport was considering adding along the top of the new wall. Given the height of the wall (25+ feet and a backslope), geogrid reinforcement was a part of the design.