Case History-Olympic Sculpture Park MSE Structures

The nine-acre Olympic Sculpture Park (OSP) overlooks the Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains, and required the import of approximately 164,000 cubic meters (215,000 cubic yards) of fill. The park is adjacent to Elliott Bay in downtown Seattle, Washington. Approximately 4,180 vertical square meters (45,000 vertical square feet) of wire basket face Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) structures support the massive urban fill operation and provide the framework for the pedestrian park above. Pedestrian bridges over a busy street corridor and railroad tracks provide access to the urban waterfront. Design and construction of the MSE structures were completed by late 2006, and the park was opened for public access in early 2007. Unusual project features included: (1) True abutment MSE applications with geogrid reinforcement supporting vertical and horizontal bridge loads (2) MSE walls in pressure relief applications to eliminate lateral earth pressure on adjacent pedestrian bridge abutment walls (3) Two-stage MSE structures with multiple face inclinations (4) Back-to-back MSE walls with a narrow distance between parallel facings in a high seismic area