Hershey, PA
Project: Hershey Park
Location: Hershey, PA
Owner: Hershey Company
General Contractor: Schlouch Inc.
Total Wall Area: 13,000 SF
Project Cost: $540,000
They call it the sweetest place on earth and Roche Bros. Inc. (RBI) was happy to be a small part of the expansion of Hershey Park in the summer of 2020. The goal was to mitigate flood risks while expanding the park including the addition of the newest roller coaster. This would require a 5,600 SF segmental block wall to help form a stormwater basin as well as a 7,400 SF Big Block Gravity Wall along the existing Spring Creek.
Originally planned as a Cast-in-Place (CIP) wall, RBI worked with ELA Group to provide Redi-Rock as a more cost-effective solution to the owner for the wall along Spring Creek. Although this was an easy decision for the owner, constructing this wall presented us with many challenges. With a creek in front of the wall and multiple trades working concurrently behind the wall, space was at a premium. In addition, the wall design and construction would need to consider building around an existing stormwater pipe, and tying into existing CIP structures (including roller coaster foundations). We worked with our Redi Rock Supplier to have blocks custom made specific to the application. Coordination and communication was of the utmost importance in order to deliver the project on schedule.
At RBI, we pride ourselves in the experience and expertise of our project management team to help navigate all types of complex projects. At Hershey Park, our team proved up to the task, coordinating with other trades and adjusting ‘on the fly’ when necessary. One of the many examples of this was when access to the wall became an issue due to increasing space constraints. This potentially could have slowed the construction down tremendously. We quickly acted by mobilizing a Telebelt to the site, allowing us to move materials down to the wall area more efficiently. This helped to keep the job on schedule to ensure the GC met their time obligations to the Owner. The finished product speaks for itself. It is no doubt one of the “sweetest” jobs we have completed.