Tamarack Village

Background

Located in the fast-growing Twin Cities suburb of Woodbury, Minnesota, Tamarak Village was a new construction project that involved the creation of both shopping areas and business offices.

The Challenge

Tamarak Village was a new development created from the ground up out of corn and soybean fields. Due to the number of businesses and required parking lots, the project would require a significant amount of hardscaping. Contractors were also faced with the challenge of installing 35,000 square feet of retaining wall, creating a land bridge, and a detention pond — all while keeping within state and city building codes and watershed requirements. Presenting additional challenges, construction of the retaining walls had to be done quickly to avoid rain delays and complications.

The Solution

Completing the project required extensive coordination among the developers, engineers and contractors, especially involving the creation of the detention pond. According to lead contractor Matt Barron of Burnsville, Minnesota-based Hardscape Construction, Inc., the contractors had to work quickly to install the retaining wall before any rain had a chance to fall.

“We timed the construction of the pond during July and August, when we wouldn’t be as likely to have any rain,” said Matt Barron of Hardscape Construction, Inc., installation contractor for the project’s many wall systems. Barron’s team also had to create a detailed plan that outlined daily wall construction details to make sure the pond’s retaining walls were completed on time.

Barron also noted that using the Diamond Pro Stone Cut® retaining wall system played a large part in the success of the project due to the product’s ease of installation and aesthetic qualities. “We’ve been working with Belgard products for years, and I think that of all the distressed-face styles of block out there, the Diamond Por Stone Cut block is the easiest to install and work with,” Barron said.

The product also played a big role in improving the overall aesthetics of the complex. “I think if we had used a traditional beveled-face block, the site would have been overwhelmed with gray concrete,” Barron said. “The Diamond Pro Stone Cut wall system has a much more natural, stone-like appearance in its face and color. You end up seeing the whole site at once, not just the retaining walls.”

The Result

In the end, everyone was pleased with how the project turned out. Tamarack Village is now a thriving shopping and business area that continues to grow, and the planning and construction efforts of the engineers and contractors have clearly paid off.

“It’s definitely a keepsake project for our company—we’re really proud of it. We plan on showing this one off for a long time.” -Matt Barron, Hardscape Construction, Inc.