It would take dedicated power shoppers months to visit all the retail sites SME has had a hand in developing. You could start at Somerset – North and South -- in Troy, Michigan then head to Twelve Oaks Malls in Novi or the outdoor mall at Partridge Creek in Clinton Township, travel a few more miles to Great Lakes Crossing in Auburn Hills, or up to Woodland Mall in Grand Rapids or Midland Mall in Midland. Tired of Michigan? Drive to Franklin Park Shoppingtown in Toledo or take in SouthPark Mall in Strongsville, the largest collection of retail, dining and entertainment destinations in northern Ohio. If home improvement is more your style, check out the big box folks like Lowe’s and Home Depot – we’ve done work in over 75 locations. Need new technology toys or office supplies? Stop by Best Buy or Circuit City or Office Depot or Office Max. Hungry yet? Visit food chain giants like Kroger and Farmer Jack or run to Burger King or Applebee’s. And don’t forget to stock up on drugs at Rite Aid or CVS or Walgreens. We know how to penetrate the market fast. SME provided turnkey consulting engineering services to Rite Aid for store development in 50 cities across the state. If your car dies along the way, head to one of several AutoZone sites we helped develop.

We’re proud our geotechnical work has anchored the anchors – Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Macy’s, Parisian, Lord & Taylor, Target, Kmart, Kohl’s, Wal-Mart – at the major power centers in Michigan. Leading retail developers like Grand Sakwa, Ramco-Gershenson, REDICO, Schostak Brothers, Taubman and Westfield count on SME’s technical expertise, attention to detail and seamless service.

We know what it takes to demolish an antiquated anchor store and replace it with a new upscale retailer. Or clear – and remediate -- an industrial site in preparation for a big box retailer. We understand the issues surrounding green construction and can LEED developers in making the best choices for their site. Whatever the end use, we’ll ease the transition from developer to owner. A national developer has even asked us to conduct peer reviews of geotechnical work around the country. Why? Because everyone knows that difficult site conditions can derail a project before it starts.

A case in point is the beautiful new 500,000-square-foot Waterside Marketplace. Extremely plastic soils in Chesterfield Township, Michigan posed a significant challenge to development. Approximately half of the 86-acre site consisted of poorly drained (clayey/silty) soils with a high plasticity index and moisture content. These types of soils are difficult to stabilize and can experience significant shrinking/swelling with changes in moisture content. If left untreated, the resulting subgrade movements would cause damage to the new structures.

To stabilize the soil conditions, SME recommended implementing a lime treatment program. Lime kiln dust – 8,000 tons of it – was used to absorb the moisture and stabilize the clay. The lime treatment saved valuable time on this fast-paced project by permitting earthwork to continue during winter months. We also provided solutions to soil settlement and pavement design and construction challenges. To address pavement issues, SME proposed creating a greater overall pavement section thickness using a thinner asphalt surface layer along with a thicker aggregate base. The alternate pavement design increased pavement life by reducing the potential for adverse effects from frost-heave and saved $600,000 in asphalt costs.

With its 25 national retailers, Waterside Marketplace has become the favorite destination for many Macomb County residents. If one-stop shopping appeals to you, come to SME. We can handle everything from environmental site assessments to hazardous materials consulting, from property condition assessments to geotechnical evaluations, from constructability reviews to due care plans, from pavement engineering design and management to roof consulting.

We even do windows!

For more information contact Dan Roeser, PG in our Plymouth office or an SME office near you.
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Click here for a list of representative projects.





© Copyright 2009 Soil and Materials Engineers, Inc.