The 42-foot retaining wall at Forest Hills Elementary School
in Grand Rapids is one of the largest retaining walls in Michigan.

By Wendi Sawchuk, Associate Editor

When CAM Member Walltek, LLC was established in 1995 by owner Todd Garris and original partner Chris Dewey, the company was truly a pioneer in the retaining wall industry. At the time, it was the only design/builder of retaining wall systems in the entire state of Michigan. Eventually, the Walltek team grew to include another partner, Chad Clark, P.E., a civil engineer who designs the retaining walls that Walltek builds. Although other retaining wall contracting firms have surfaced over the years, Walltek continues to have an edge by not only constructing the walls, but designing them in house, as well. With an impressive track record including one of the largest retaining walls in Michigan, Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) projects, and other many school and brick paving projects, Walltek remains one step ahead of the rest. 

GROWING BRICK BY BRICK
Within eight years, Walltek has continued to evolve and established themselves as a premier retaining wall contractor throughout Michigan and other states. Currently, the company's office is located in Lake Orion . However, their goal is to have an office in west Michigan during the first quarter of 2003. "We started out with only one crew working out in the field, and today we have five to six crews working simultaneously on projects all over the state," said Garris. Although they began with projects in southeastern Michigan Walltek has completed several projects in west Michigan and northern Michigan over the years. One of the reasons is the demand these areas have for retaining walls. "Branching out to these other areas has been a slow process," said Garris. "However, the developers have realized the need for our product (retaining walls) due to the terrain."

Retaining walls are commonly used for land balancing purposes and to retain soil. The wall prevents the soil from eroding and collapsing to the ground. There are several types of retaining walls including MSE (mechanically stabilized earth) walls. These walls are entirely composed of segmental block units. "With these types of walls, the goal is to maintain a certain elevation or grade on one side to balance the land," said Garris. Natural retaining wall systems are composed of boulders and/or ledge rock as the actual face of the wall for more of a natural appearance. Conventional concrete retaining walls use poured in place concrete with rebar. Concrete walls are often used on Department of Transportation projects.

Since several areas outside of southeastern Michigan are undeveloped, the terrain is unbalanced and many projects call for retaining walls. Walltek recently completed one of the largest retaining walls in Michigan at Forest Hills Elementary School in Grand Rapids . It was composed of seven stacked tiers (walls), each approximately seven feet in height. The result was a segmental retaining wall 42 feet in height. Due to land balancing issues with the site, this wall was a critical structure to the entire school project because the school was constructed near a 50-foot hill. The team had to make a massive cut into the 50-foot hill in order to effectively reinforce the earth behind the hill to prevent erosion into the parking lot below. Another large project outside of southeastern Michigan that Walltek recently completed was at the Harbor Springs High School football stadium near Petoskey. The old stadium had been constructed on a 50-foot hill with wood seating. The project was basically a reconstruction of the entire stadium. All of the existing wood seating was demolished and replaced with segmental retaining wall block against the massive hill. Walltek used Keystone block manufactured by Fendt Builders Supply, Inc., Farmington, for this project. "This was also a challenging project because it consisted of 50 feet of three block high stadium seating overlooking the entire football field," said Garris.

Walltek reconstructed Ottawa Stadium at Harbor Springs High School by replacing
all of the existing wood seating with segmental retaining wall block .

Forest Hills Elementary and Harbor Springs High School were large projects where the expertise of the Walltek design/build team was vital. With the successful completion of these and several other projects, the company continues to grow and branch out from the southeastern Michigan market. "We would like to think of ourselves as a specialty contractor of retaining wall systems who is taking this product and its engineering to the highest level and branching out to cover the entire state, even out of state, and offering it to different markets instead of just one," said Garris. As an established design/build retaining wall contractor, Walltek has built strong relationships with various developers and general contractors all over Michigan and neighboring states.

A SOLID REPUTATION BUILT ON QUALITY
One of the ways in which Walltek has established themselves is simply by their business practices. As a subcontractor, they have observed how large general contractors and construction management companies operate and organize on a much greater scale. In turn, the skills and practices that they have learned from these large companies are implemented into their daily business. "We have observed and learned from those companies and implemented their organizational skills on a subcontractor level," said Garris. "We apply everything we learn to our company as far as quality, product management, scheduling, follow-up, and basically everything we do." By emulating their style of organization, Walltek allows each project to progress more efficiently for themselves and the general contractor/construction manager. Because they are a designer/builder of these walls, they are often preferred over other companies due to the close monitoring they have on site, and the ability to make last minute changes in the design and construction, if necessary.

Their solid track record of quality jobs has resulted in the strong relationships that Walltek has with all of its customers. This includes general contractors, construction managers, developers, manufacturers and excavation/site work contractors. The main reason for establishing a west Michigan office is because of one of these strong relationships. Consumer's Concrete is based out of western Michigan and is one of the largest manufacturers of retaining wall block in the state. Walltek has used their product on several projects over the years and will be able to work even more closely with the company once the west Michigan office is opened. "We have built a great relationship with a lot of these companies just by working on job sites with them," said Garris. "That is what really makes what we do as great as it is because everyone builds up such a rapport with each other." When companies work with Walltek for the first time, they experience the kind of care and quality that the Walltek team brings to every project. This, in turn, develops a trust and the assurance of a successful, quality product.

MORE TO OFFER
Walltek is now also licensed to market and manufacture a product called Concord Block. It is a free-standing sound wall system composed of segmental block units with an architectural face on each side. The product was introduced to the public at the 2003 Design and Construction Expo in the Architectural Alley section. In addition to the west Michigan office opening in 2003, their goal is to also open an Ohio office in 2004 to accommodate the growing market in that area, as well. Although Walltek was started in 1995 by only two people with a great idea for a great product, the company has grown astronomically as a result of expert design and quality work. "We want our work to speak to speak for us, and the next time a project needs a retaining wall, companies will immediately think of a Walltek wall," said Garris.

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