Project Profile: Huff Park

Huff Park is a wetlands-based park located in northeast Grand Rapids, Michigan. An expansive boardwalk makes it possible for visitors to explore the nature preserve on a safe walkway throughout the marsh area. When the boardwalk deteriorated beyond safe usage, the City of Grand Rapids turned to Kent Companies to provide structural support for the wetlands-based walkway.

The Huff Park boardwalk measures 3,720 feet long. Kent Companies installed 703 helical piers and 157 helical tiebacks to support the boardwalk. Together, the piers and tiebacks support the modular composite decking for the walking path. A helical tieback was battered at every other pier location (besides turns in the boardwalk) to provide higher creative solutions and equipment. The Kent Companies team deployed an Argo (an 8-wheel amphibious vehicle) to stage the pier and tieback material along the site. The was necessary to cut some small trees to allow enough access for installation, the team left minimal impact on the natural site.

Kent Companies installed over 20 piers per day on average. The team dedicated 2,530 field production hours to the boardwalk and completed the entire project on schedule.