"Luxury Living" is the best way to describe 24 At Bloomfield, a newly built apartment complex in Bloomfield Township, Michigan. 24 At Bloomfield, along with many other luxury apartment communities, has "The Works" when it comes to amenities; an outdoor pool, fully enclosed dog park, several common areas, and modernized living units. Now, thanks to an AB Fence project that was completed last year, one of the most valuable amenities they are able to offer is the comfort of privacy with the added benefit of a beautiful aesthetic.

Often times, new construction of housing developments or apartment complexes are sandwiched between existing residential areas. Because of their close proximity to other living spaces, it is very common for owners of these new buildings to place added value on the ability to offer their community their own "private" space. One of the most common ways to create this private space is with the addition of privacy fences, used to separate the property of the complex from the surrounding residential areas. The trick to adding these privacy fences is that residents have an expectation that whatever separation is installed, it needs to look great. This is where AB Fence comes in.

When 24 At Bloomfield was planning their luxury apartments, they needed an attractive, reliable, and effective solution to meet their privacy needs. The product that they ended up selecting was the AB Fence product. The AB Fence system has been a proven system for years, requires little to no maintenance, and the look of the striated/split face surface of the blocks is second to none in terms of aesthetics. The developers for 24 At Bloomfield needed this 6 ft. (1.8 m) fence to be built perfectly, so they contacted Darren Yanke from Yanke Construction Inc.

Fortunately, Darren understood the importance of having his AB Fence project designed by a quality engineer, so he reached out to his local Allan Block representative from Consumers Concrete, Randy Vreeman. Randy Vreeman. Randy recommended that the fence be designed by GeoWall Designs.

The engineers at GeoWall Designs got to work designing the 1,200 linear ft. (366 m) fence to run along the eastern side of the property. Based on the soils and wind loading present on site, the fence was designed with a 3-course bond beam at the bottom of the fence, and a 2-course bond beam on the top courses. With proper adherence to AB Fence design recommendations, all step-ups and step-downs, post spacings, and bond beam placements were expertly implemented into the construction drawings. Darren and the installers at Yanke Construction Inc. could then use the drawings to ensure that they were getting the fence installed perfectly.

When privacy is in high demand, and luxury living requires top-notch aesthetics, AB Fence will always be the go-to solution for your privacy fence needs.

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Jigs and Tools- Allan Block has come up with a few jigs that are easy to build that will help speed up construction while minimizing errors on your project. The Funnel Jig assists in placing the grout within the panel blocks during the construction of the bond beams. This jig will help prevent the grout from reaching the face of the panels leaving a cleaner finished product. Other jigs include the Pile Layout Jig, which is the most important jig, since it is used to ensure accuracy of the vertical steel in the posts, the Post Spacing Jig used to help keep the AB Fence Post Blocks aligned as the posts are positioned and the Stirrup Jig to assist with the production of stirrups used in the bond beams.

Excavation - For panel foundations a 6 in. (150 mm) deep by 12 in. (300 mm) wide trench is typically excavated and filled with well-graded compactable aggregate. The panel trench's centerline should match the centerline of the AB Fence Placement. Filling and compacting the well-graded aggregate in the Panel trench should occur after the Pile/Pier footing as had time to harden.

After the panel trench is excavated, ensure the Pile/Pier footing locations are correct and bore out the pile/pier holes to the required depth based on approved construction plans. Prior to pouring your pile, ensure there is no loose material at the bottom of the hole and compact with a tamper when necessary. Positioning the holes is a critical step with a maximum allowable horizontal tolerance of + 1 in. (25 cm).

Pile/Pier Footing Construction - A concrete form with the same inside diameter as the design pile and minimum depth 12 in. (300 mm) should be used during the construction of the pile/pier footing. The centerline of the concrete form should match that of the AB Fence. The Pile Layout Jig can be used immediately after the concrete is poured to assist in the proper spacing of each AB Fence post. Place the required sized rebar following an approved construction plan within + 0.5 in. (13 mm) of the design horizontal locations.

Fence Construction - Begin stacking post blocks using the Post Spacing Jig to keep the posts square and aligned while also checking level in all directions. After the first few post blocks are installed, place a course of AB Fence Panel Blocks from post to post extending a minimum of 1 in. (25 mm) into each post block. Use a string line to ensure accurate level.

A single bond beam consists of two courses of AB Fence Panel Block that have their cores filled with sand mix grout using stirrups for increased strength. A continuous piece of rebar should be placed between the recess of the two courses. Bond beams are typically used at the top and bottom of the fence panel to create a unified fence panel structure. Intermediate bond beams may be required as the AB Fence height increases. Prior to building a bond beam section, place a 4 in. (100 mm) strip of material such as duct tape or building paper, to prevent the grout mix from falling into the lower courses.

Stack additional panel courses and post blocks until the finished height or the next bond beam is reached. For esthetics and ease of construction, use a castellated design with the AB Fence Post Blocks extending one additional block above the final panel course. Finish by attaching the AB Fence Caps above the panel course and posts using a flexible construction adhesive.

Pattern Fence - Patterned fence panels resemble hand-laid stone walls and add even more character to your AB Fence Project. To assist in fence estimating and to ease the construction process, there are pre-set fence patterns available. Flip some split-faced sides to maintain a beautiful pattern on both sides. For additional tools for estimating your project, download the FREE AB Estimating Tool.

Design:

The height of the fence can be determined by local ordinance limitations, sound abatement calculations or by the client's desires. Once the desired height is finalized, the loading on the wall can be calculated. The controlling design load for most AB Fence projects is wind. The wind loading (pressure) can be calculated by using the wind speed (reference local code requirements), site conditions and exposure effect. Be aware that design codes might dictate a minimum wind pressure; ASCE 7-10 29.8 and IBC 2012 1609.6.3 has a minimum pressure of 16 psf.

After the wind pressure is determined, the maximum post spacing can be found through calculating the compressive strength, tensile strength, design strength and concrete shear of the posts and panels along with the foundation footing design. For an example calculation, check out our AB Fence Engineering Manual.

Reach out to engineering@allanblock.com for more information, scenarios or a preliminary design.

Miles Champion is considered one of Allan Block's top designers in North Carolina, but how did he get there?

Miles went to the University of North Carolina - Charlotte as a Mechanical engineer. After he graduated, Miles was hired at a civil engineering firm that worked for the City of Hickory in North Carolina. While employed there, he learned the civil side of engineering and hasn't looked back.

Miles got into retaining wall designs through a non-conventional route. One of his clients asked for a boat dock design which turned into 3 designs. Miles would work on the boat dock designs in the evenings for his side work, this eventually led to sea wall designs for the same clients. Once he started designing sea walls, landscape contractors started to reach out to him for retaining wall designs. Miles started out with cast in place (CIP) walls but soon added segmental retaining walls (SRW's) and boulder walls to his repertoire.

When it comes to designing SRW's, Miles prefers to use Allan Block because of the support and software (AB Walls) Allan Block provides. "AB Walls Design Software made my job a lot easier as it removed the grunt work out of the calculations and provided a peace of mind that the calculations from one project to the next were consistent." Miles also likes the fact that AB Walls has been constantly updated with new features such as terraces, 3D modeling, and AB CADD. He also saw value in the fact that AB Walls allowed him to efficiently provide solutions for different scenarios. "For all retaining wall circumstances, I recommend Allan Block because they have solutions to accommodate the projects such as no fines concrete (NFC), double block walls and complex composite structures (CSS)."

Miles offered some advice for any engineer starting out in retaining walls: "Check out Allan Block for their support and software on available material. Get what you need when you need it."

Allan Block would like to thank Miles for his dedication to learning more about the industry and to promote proper SRW design.