The Garrison at Black Creek

The ongoing development at the Black Creek community in Chattanooga, TN, created a unique opportunity to run projects in tandem that were mutually beneficial for the overall development.

At first glance The Garrison, a 32-lot subdivision located to the south of The Knoll off River Gorge Drive, did not look like a developable piece of land. The property was an undulating steep terrain with 2-on-1 existing slopes with over 100 feet of vertical change. A 30-foot cutoff at the top of one of the hills and a 60-foot fill zone in one of the ravines was designed to provide a pad-ready location for future homes. A global stability analysis was then competed to ensure the pad sites could support the residential load on all that fill.

While site development was underway for The Garrison, construction of the Upper River Gorge Drive roadway expansion project was in progress. The excavation resulted in a significant amount of excess material that needed to be removed. Rather than haul it off-site, the soil was transported from the roadway project approximately two miles to fill The Garrison and create a developable area.

The subdivision design also included an innovative low-pressure sanitary sewer system, which was designed in coordination with the City of Chattanooga to establish their low-pressure sewer standards.