Slip Forming, used to construct a variety of concrete elements and structures, is the technique of moving formwork to allow for the simultaneous extrusion and finishing of concrete.  It is a continuous process which can provide significant time savings in a variety of construction projects.  As concrete is placed, the formwork may be moved either vertically or horizontally.  It can be moved vertically to form chimneys, walls, tanks, silos, and multi-story buildings, and usually provides uniform cross-sections from the bottom of the structure to the top.  The formwork can also be moved horizontally to produce even layers of concrete for highways, driveways, curb and gutter combinations, and median barriers.

Structural Cast-In-Place Concrete Forming is used to contain and support structural concrete in the shapes of beams, slabs, walls, columns, and floors when the concrete is poured on-site in a permanent location. Wood is the traditional forming material, and while it is still used in common practice, modern pre-fabricated metal or plastic systems offer some advantages in terms of construction speed and formwork life-cycle costs.

Masonry anchors secure masonry to structural framing or supporting construction, such as a wall, floor, beam, or column. Individual ties, anchors, and inserts are available in galvanized steel, stainless steel and epoxy-coated steel. Building codes may determine the forces that need to be accommodated and the spacing of anchors.

Split-faced concrete unit masonry is an architectural concrete masonry unit that costs a bit more than a standard CMU. It is made from a mixture of Portland cement, water, aggregates, and admixtures such as coloring agents, air-entraining materials, accelerators, retarders, or water repellents. Once shaped, compacted, and cured, the solid or hollow concrete units are then split crosswise or lengthwise. This random splitting allows some of the aggregate to break through in various planes, providing a look similar to natural stone.

Transplantation is the uprooting of established trees, shrubs, plants, or flowers and re-planting them at a new location.  This is often done in order to avoid damaging expensive plantings at a project site, or to facilitate new construction work, thereby reducing total project costs.  Transplantation can also include the relocation of plantings from one project site to another, sometimes transporting them over significant distances.  Uprooting and transplanting foliage can be very traumatic to the plant and can cause it to perish if done improperly.  Various practical transplantation guidelines and precautions have been established by nursery, plant and tree professionals, based on their training and experience.

Irrigation provides a water delivery system to maintain landscape plantings or lawns.  In order to construct an irrigation system, it is crucial to develop an understanding of the water requirements for the plant species to be irrigated; identify the areas of coverage required; determine the capabilities of the existing water utilities to support an irrigation system;and select and install the required system elements.  System elements will include types and locations of sprinkler heads, piping systems, and control units.

Sound barriers are constructed to protect noise sensitive areas from noise pollution.  The most common application of sound barrier walls is to insulate residential communities from highway noise, although they are also installed along railways and around industrial work areas for similar reasons. They can also be used outside specific building locations to dampen the sounds of pad-mounted mechanical equipment, such as air conditioners.  Sound barrier walls and noise pollution regulations came with increased vehicle traffic and greater public awareness in the 1970’s.  Today, for example, the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970 still requires a noise analysis and barrier wall construction effort, if necessary, as part of federally funded highway projects.   A more recent concern of sound barrier walls is that they be aesthetically pleasing and blend well within existing landscapes and communities.

Retaining walls contain soils and hold them in place behind the inside face of a vertical (wall) structure. Retaining walls are installed when a large shift in a site’s grade elevation is desired in a very short distance, in some cases for aesthetic reasons. Since the soils contained behind the wall are trapped at a nearly vertical angle, depending on the height of the wall and the soils there can be tremendous soil pressures present which must be carefully designed for. Additionally, any loads on top of the soils contained behind the wall (known as a surcharge), such as paving or other site improvements, will contribute to an even greater loading on a retaining wall structure. Moisture content and adequate drainage of the retained soils is also an important consideration.

Brick unit paving offers an aesthetically pleasing alternative to traditional concrete and asphalt materials, when moderate traffic loads allow its use.  In the most common brick unit paving construction method, individual bricks are abutted on a bed of compacted sand over a granular base course.  These layers (or courses) are constructed upon prepared foundational soils known as the subgrade, and are contained within a framework of edge restraints.

Portland cement concrete paving is also referred to as rigid paving. Concrete pavement is supported by a base layer of compacted aggregates or treated soils, which is in turn placed upon the foundational subgrade soils of the prepared roadbed. If two base layers are utilized, they are referred to as the base and sub-base layers (or courses). Rigid (concrete) pavement differs from flexible (asphalt) pavement in that rigid pavement is designed to carry traffic loads within the pavement layer itself.