Split Level Solution

The Challenge

Derry City Council planned to extend the available burial ground at the City Cemetery and required a design solution to the steeply sloped site to ensure it was accessible to persons with restricted mobility.

The main contractor for the development, Newtownstewart Construction, approached AG to help overcome the split level land, which in some areas differed in height by up to four metres.

The Council needed something that would be aesthetically pleasing, quick to install and have good engineering support.

The Solution

AG’s Anchor Vertica® Block was the ideal product for this project. Designed for steep, sloping sites and other structural problems, Vertica® walls can be built to virtually any height in incredibly tight spaces thanks to built-in alignment locators and a near vertical rise for less excavation and land loss.

Vertica® is typically used with geosynthetic reinforcement, which means that it meets or exceeds industry standards for strength and durability.

Seamus Craig of Newtownstewart Construction was impressed with AG’s Anchor Vertica® block and how it provided a cost-effective solution for the Derry City Cemetery project.

“Vertica® block was fast and easy to assemble. Aesthetically, it ticked all the boxes in terms of its suitable, natural blended colour and rugged texture.”

“Vertica® fitted in perfectly with the surrounding environment for a project that had large, high walls. It was extremely important in a cemetery that the project didn’t become an intrusive construction. The flexible and versatile nature of Vertica® assisted in solving the design challenge of constructing curved, six-metre high retaining walls – which have now become a real feature of the project.”

“An added feature of the course rugged surface is that the landscaped climber plants have flourished by utilising the block walls as a perfect habitation environment. Overall AG offered a superb delivery service with a high quality block.”

Seamus Craig | Newtownstewart Construction.

Derry City Council was delighted with the hard landscaping work at the cemetery and Vertica’s ease of installation helped the project finish ahead of time and on budget.

A further phase of work at the cemetery has already been scheduled in.