Memorial Park Site Lighting Installed Despite High Water Table

After its dedication 80 years ago, the Muskegon Veterans Memorial park received upgraded site lighting to add to the memorial renovation.

THE CHALLENGE

More than 80 years after its dedication, the Muskegon Veteran's Memorial Park was ready for a much-needed renovation. As Lupe Alviar, a veteran, and a member of the Lions Club explained, "At one time, this park was declared Michigan's Most Beautiful Mile... and our goal, upon completion of this construction... is to get the governor back down here and re-declare this Michigan's Most Beautiful Mile!"

In order to do just that, plans included cleaning up the memorials, adding new cannons, and relighting the park - specifically with 84 classical street lamps. These new light poles would need new bases, however, and installing them would be a challenge with the site's inherently wet soil conditions.

THE SOLUTION

The perfect solution for installing site lighting in adverse site conditions is a precast concrete base. The engineers at Hooker DeJong understood that and specified Pole Base.

"I chose Pole Base for this project because of the conditions here at the park; we've got a very high water table, within a foot or two of the surface," explained Larry Ward of Hooker DeJong.

"You can't put Sonotube in this kind of soil condition. With water filling the hole, the Sonotube is pretty much disintegrated by the time you get to it and with 84 poles, that's a lot of extra work," Ward said.

Luckily, Pole Base met the challenge head-on. Produced and cured in a controlled setting, every precast concrete Pole Base was manufactured to specification with exact bolt configurations and conduit templates, ready for immediate installation upon delivery.

The bases were produced with an added feature to add to the scenery of the park. Vick Hill at Strain Electric described, "These bases have five pipes, four are one inch for electrical, and they have a half-inch coming up that would run up the pole for irrigation if they decide to put flower pots on the outside of the poles." These irrigation lines would automatically water the flowers, keeping them healthy and vibrant along with the rest of the park.

Upon delivery of the Pole Bases, Strain Electric began excavating holes to accommodate the high water table. Their team installed each base with ease, something that would have been extremely difficult to do had they attempted to install these bases on-site with a cast-in-place system. Utilizing Pole Base's flexible precast concrete system, everyone involved in this project was saved from, "a lot of extra work."

THE OUTCOME

After an easy installation, even in a tough site scenario, work moved forward smoothly with the Muskegon Veteran's Memorial Renovation. With its new site lighting, clean memorials, and new cannons, Muskegon now has a beautiful park again. One that is fitting for the brave men and women who serve our country.

PROJECT DETAILS

Project: Muskegon Veteran's Memorial Park Engineer: Hooker DeJong Year Built: 2014 Manufacturer: MDC Contracting Installer: Strain Electric Location: Muskegon, MI Case: 008 - Muskegon Veterans Memorial Park