Brandermill Woods Retirement Center

State-of-the-art retirement campus Brandermill Woods occupies 30 acres of a prominent mixed-use master-planned community. Creating value for residents, its $57 million project to modernize and expand several key facilities includes a new four-story apartment building with below-grade parking, a larger clubhouse, additional skilled-nursing private rooms, and a new maintenance building.

Schnabel has been providing construction observation and materials testing services for the owner since the construction process began in 2013. Our tasks include observation and testing of soils, concrete, waterproofing, masonry, structural steel and wood framing, asphalt, helical piles, and soil nails. On the geostructural side, over 200 soil nails were installed for the excavation support required to construct the below-grade parking level, while helical piles were necessary to support the foundation of nearby structures.

Our geotechnical and geostructural team worked on resolving issues related to low-strength concrete and structural wood framing and also addressed earthwork problems, particularly those related to unsuitable fill soils. We recommended applying lime to on-site fill soils during cold-weather months to render them usable as compacted structural fill. This saved the owner money by eliminating the need to import fill materials from an off-site source, plus it also allowed earthwork to progress despite poor weather conditions.

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