Our History

Patent filed for Reinforced Earth®: French engineer Henri Vidal files the patent for Reinforced Earth® and becomes the modern inventor of what is now commonly referred to as Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE). Much like this combination of pine needles and sand, metal or geosynthetic reinforcing strips placed at regular intervals in an embankment link these grains together by means of friction, becoming its own supporting structure.

First structure built in Percè, Quebec, Canada: Our history started in 1970 when the first Reinforced Earth structure on Canadian soil was built in Percé, Quebec. After this, the French invention explosively expanded to the rest of Canada and the world.

St. Joseph Oratory: On the site of Canada’s largest church, this retaining wall features a raised architectural finish, designed for a 200+ year service life as required by the Church.

Tremplin de ski Mont Ste-Anne:  The elevation difference is 24m in 52m (slope 47%). Possibly the only application of its kind to date, this ski jump highlights the ability for RE to be constructed on very steep mountainous terrain.  

Gaspe Seawalls: Since its construction, the approx. 30-km long RE walls have buffered Route 132 from tidal fluctuations with up to 6 m swells, extensive ice flows and ice formations, and other severe cold weather conditions inherent to the region.

Kananaskis Country: The use of RE walls allowed for an efficient “cut and fill” to minimize the need for importing of fill material.

Yellowhead Trail: This “tight diamond” intersection shows that RE can prove cost effective in not only the traditional “fill” applications but also in this 8 meter “cut”.

Vancouver ALRT: The first application of RE for Light Rail Transit (LRT) in Canada, similar applications are now extremely common today, almost 40 years later. The City of Vancouver’s SkyTrain is one of the longest LRT systems in Canada.

Obed Slot: This coal storage structure features a 28m-high conical storage that with the completed roof structure provide protection of coal from the elements and allows ‘first in, first out’ coal storage with no dead storage spots.

Coquihalla Highway: RE technology is a suitable method of reducing rock drilling and blasting. For high walls constructed in mountainous areas, the cost savings of RE compared to other retaining wall types is dramatic.

Harvey Creek Bridge: This split-level true abutment application is quite unique and provides protection of the highway from the devastating loss of bridges in the past caused by the creeks’ avalanches of debris flows.

Cominco Bridge: This RE ‘true abutment’ was designed to carry a single mine vehicle of 244t over a two-lane highway.

R.H. Saunders UWW: One of the four walls of its type in Canada utilizing a special panel and construction technique which allows construction underwater in depths up to 6 meters.

Terminal 3: The tight location of roadways and ramps at airports can utilize the benefit of RE technology.

Miramichi UWW: This 6m high R/E wall constructed underwater supports a maritime museum in the province of New Brunswick.

Lime Kiln Bay Wharf: These ramp walls for the Atlantic Salmon Growers are constructed in the Bay of Fundy and were required to be designed for a 7m high tidal fluctuations.

Vancouver Airport: Airport developers gravitate to RE for the superior aesthetics.

Rocky Creek: This 18m span TechSpan precast arch was the winning alternative to span Rocky Creek on Vancouver Island and maintain this environmentally sensitive creek.

Ocean Pond: By eliminating the need for expansion joints or bearing pads required for a short span bridges, this TechSpan arch in Newfoundland requires very low maintenance.

BC Ferry Assembly Building: The RECo team worked efficiently from the conceptual design to supply stage on this fast-tracked project, ultimately re-designing and supplying to site in 3.5 weeks.

Bishops Falls: This application of Techspan in Newfoundland has been followed by nearly one dozen.

Holdich Creek/ Hwy 23 Walls: After a washout of the only highway access to a remote community in BC and under emergency repair contract, this TechSpan arch application features the tallest TechSpan headwalls in the world at a height of 23m.

Muskeg Froth Tank Walls: This project was the first time in the world that RE walls were used to support a settling tank. The six structures constructed for an oil sand client also featured a tunnel composed of RE wall and short span roof bridge.

Georgia-Pacific Melford Mine: Constructed under a Joint Venture with a local contractor this project featured several of RECo’s techniques including, truck dump wall, reclaim tunnel under Gypsum stock pile and an emergency escape tunnel composed of RE and overhead short-span roof slabs.

Georgia-Pacific Surge Tunnel: The use of TechSpan precast arch with 3 access holes in the roof under a Gypsum surge pile allowed for the reclaiming of Gypsum into the tunnel and onto a conveyor. 

Margaree Harbour Bridge: Built in one of the many scenic areas of Nova Scotia, this project utilized the ability of RE walls to be constructed with aesthetically pleasing curves.

Children’s Hospital Interchange: One of the most interesting uses of the aesthetic combination of a raised finish and painted concrete in the Calgary area.

Snider Grade Separation: This rail-over-rail interchange represents the largest project in Canada where heavy rail is supported directly and in close proximity to the face of the wall.

Esther Shiner Blvd: In addition to the aesthetics of our ashlar stone finish, this project features the use of recycled concrete as backfill that was taken from a huge concrete floor slab of an old Canadian Tire store just a hundred meters or so from the wall construction.

Cranston Development: One of the most interesting uses of the aesthetic combination of a raised finish and painted concrete in the Calgary area.

Walsh River: Supporting heavy rail access to and iron ore mine these head walls over precast arches were constructed under a compressed project schedule during early winter in north Labrador.

Port Cartier Seawall: Constructed at low tide in Quebec’s tidal zone of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence this was the first RE wall to utilize our GeoStrap Polyester soil reinforcement used to avoid concerns of the salt water corrosion would have on metallic reinforcement. 

Rodick/CNR: When acute corners are required from RE design, special attention to design and construction is necessary.

Mt. Milligan Copper-Gold Project: A Reinforced Earth wing wall for the primary crusher structure and truck dump for this mine is the highest wall of its kind in Canada with 33m of vertical facing.

Stock Yards Village Shopping Centre: As part of a Commercial development in the City of Toronto, RECo teamed up with our sister company Menard who provided two different types of foundation improvements on the poor soils under the RE walls.

Bonaventure Montreal: Using a unique architectural finish with TerraPlus concrete panels, construction of this important access way in Montreal was achieved with minimal impact to downtown traffic.

Mahogany Land Development: The ability to accommodate unique geometries made RE walls the preferred choice for this manmade lake in a new upscale housing development in Calgary.

2nd Concession Rd Bridge over GO Rail: Bridges spanning an active rail corridor and the Holland River lift the reconstructed 2nd Concession out of the valley. The environmental footprint of the roadway is further minimized through curvilinear and terraced tree-patterned retaining walls. At road level, cyclists travel on dedicated cycle tracks and can stop at lookouts on the bridges for unobstructed views of the reservoir and wildlife. This project won the OPEA 2018 Award for Engineering Project or Achievement. 

James Potter Road Underpass: The consultant along with the city specified aesthetic features for the precast concrete panels, proposing a two “Ribbons in the wind” concept. With 80 different patterns, RECo achieved the aesthetic look that owners envisioned.

Echangeur Turcot: This project was the largest RE project in Canadian History with approximately 100,000m2 of wall area of TerraPlus panels.

Regina By-Pass Ring Road: Regina Bypass is the largest transportation infrastructure project in Saskatchewan’s history. RECo’s contribution to the project consisted of 44 structures, a total wall area of 23,000m2.

Southwest Transitway: The City of Winnipeg’s Southwest Rapid Transit Corridor project in Manitoba is a dedicated high-speed roadway for buses, integrating all existing bus routes in Southwest Winnipeg and bypassing several areas of traffic congestion on the major Pembina Highway. The project, owned by the City of Winnipeg, is anticipated to reduce transit times and accommodate the travel needs of a 40% population growth expected in the southwest area of Winnipeg by 2030.

162nd Street & Macleod Trail Interchange: An interesting architectural treatment jointly developed between RECo and owners’ architects resulting is a visually striking final result.

Hydro-Quebec Barrage De La Trenche: A 17m long TechSpan project with 45m long headwalls using TerraPlus panels in smooth grey finish.

Ojibway Parkway Overpass: A Retained soil system with high performance high appearance that has an architectural finish built in Windsor Ontario.

50th Anniversary: Over the last 50 years, RECo Canada has forged an unrivalled level of expertise and experience in reinforced backfill applications and soil-structure interaction. Our experience is proven with our participation in a wide variety of Canadian markets and applications using our iconic retaining wall systems and innovative product lines.

Aurum Road : TerraClass RE panels were used to build headwalls and wing walls for the Aurum Road culvert in the city of Edmonton with a service life of 100 years. The Consulting Engineers of Alberta recognized the project with the Award of Excellence in recognition of its positive environmental impact on the region. This award was presented to designer Stantec Consulting Ltd. at the Annual CEA Showcase Awards in 2020, recognizing several key players, including RECo Canada.

Little Barasway River Bridge: A 10m wide TechSpan with a 129 sqm head wall of RE walls were used to build this short span bridge.

Reversing Falls Railway Bridge Rehabilitation: Due to the advanced degradation of the concrete in the piers of Reversing Falls Railway Bridge, a 20m high Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) wall was constructed to replace the existing bridge between the West abutment and Pier 4. This involved taking the degraded piers out of service.

Kicking Horse: The Kicking Horse Canyon Phase 4 Project, in British Columbia involves realigning and widening 4.8 km of highway through the canyon. This last phase is the most technically challenging and difficult part of whole 4 phased project considering the location, along with little disruption as possible to highway users, the community and wildlife protection. Reinforced Earth Canada has designed and supplied 6 structures, with a maximum height of 12m and total project scope of over 9000 m² of Reinforced Earth® walls area.