Hy-Vee grocery store managers and engineers used an innovative, sustainable engineering material when they built a store in Robbinsdale (MN) and, in the process, increased performance and saved money on a tricky part of the project.

France Avenue North runs parallel to the back of the building and is only 30 feet away. That typically isn't an issue, but in this case, the road's surface elevation was just a few feet below the building's roof elevation.

In order to reduce the lateral load of the 20-foot slope pushing against the building, Westwood Professional Services designed the wall to be backfilled with approximately 2,000 cubic yards of TDA (tire derived aggregate). Installing a typical granular material in this scenario would have been more expensive, and would increase the risk of wall failure.

TDA provides a 50% lateral load reduction compared to soil and its high permeability will minimize hydrostatic pressure. TDA also provides a capillary break and insulation layer, preventing damage from freeze-thaw cycles.