Redi-Rock Renovates County Baseball Fields and Surrounding Sports Complex

THE CHALLENGE

When Shawnee County, Kansas needed to renovate one of its sports complexes, it was met with some unique challenges due to the sloping terrain of the site. The 22-acre (9-hectare) Lake Shawnee Sports Complex is home to a total of six baseball and softball fields, all sloping down to the shore of Lake Shawnee. The baseball complex fields are used by the Topeka minor league team the Golden Knights, as well as by local high school teams.

As the first renovation to take place at the Lake Shawnee Sports Complex, the Pony Express field was to be the benchmark for construction and renovation for the remaining fields. The master plan for the site called for the updating of the entire complex in stages over the course of a year. To renovate the Pony Express baseball diamond, engineers needed to create a level field using retaining walls; the challenge was finding a retaining wall that would fit the look of the historic park area.

THE SOLUTION

"The lake started out as a quarry in 1939. Most of the restrooms, shelter houses, and buildings in the park complex are made of natural stone quarried from the lake. In order to keep the same feel throughout facilities, we chose Redi-Rock because we felt it most closely fit the look we already had," said John Kennedy, the Director of Parks for the Shawnee County Department of Parks & Recreation.

Kennedy explained that Professional Engineering Consultants, a Topeka-based engineering firm, recommended Redi-Rock retaining walls for the project. Redi-Rock had been used to create the wing walls at the nearby Lake Shawnee Dam spillway renovation which was completed in 2006. The massive one-ton precast concrete gravity retaining wall blocks are used to build structural retaining walls that have the look of natural quarried stone. Manufactured by Midwest Concrete Materials of Manhattan, Kansas, the walls were installed by Emcon, Inc.

S. Earl Tast, P.E. with Professional Engineering Consultants designed the three retaining walls at the Pony Express field-one located behind the seating area, one to support the outfield fence and one at the backstop plaza. The backstop plaza is part of the second phase of the project and was completed in the spring of 2010.

The Redi-Rock Cobblestone wall helped create space for new bleachers at this sports complex.

THE OUTCOME

To create an elevated viewing area for fans, Tast designed a retaining wall to support a 10 foot (3 meter) wide sidewalk located behind and above the outfield fence. This sidewalk is part of the seven-mile-long (11 kilometer long) Lake Shawnee Trail that winds around the lake. Because the sidewalk is raised above field level by 8-9 feet (2.4-2.7 meters), it provides a great viewing area where many spectators set up lawn chairs to watch games. A metal fence separates the wall from the sidewalk area.

"A lot of people told us we couldn't make the outfield fence out of Redi-Rock. They said, 'these kids are going to hurt themselves,' but it's really been a non-issue," Kennedy said.

The project utilized Redi-Rock's Cobblestone texture blocks which feature 5.75 square feet (0.5 square meters) each-giving the walls the look of a quarried stone wall but with the installation efficiency and engineered capabilities of a manufactured product.

PROJECT DETAILS

Project: Shawnee County Sports Complex #104 Owner: Shawnee County Manufacturer: Midwest Concrete Materials Installer: Emcon Inc. Engineer: Professional Engineering Consultants, P.A. Location: Topeka, Kansas Year Built: 2008