Massanutten Resort is home to an award-winning indoor and outdoor water park, which boasts a water fortress, inflatable attractions, body slides, pools, and lazy river floats. As the facilities are located on 6,000 acres of mountainous woodland, the owners believe that going green is the best way forward for the tourist attraction. Terrasmart was proud to partner with Virginia natives, Got Electric, and Secure Solar Futures on this project with a goal of providing up to 25% of the water park’s power through the 1.12-MW solar site.

The initial pull test and geotechnical report showed no traces of underground rock. However, during the installation, our crew found a vein of shale approximately two to three feet down on certain segments of the site. Given our extensive experience in tough terrain, the installation team was able to drill through the shale rock without incurring any delays to the project’s schedule.

A four-in-portrait configuration and dual post foundation were selected for this site. Utilizing a dual post foundation meant that the installation team had to ensure that both the front and back heights of the posts were placed within half an inch of the target. Without this accuracy, the module tilt would be incorrect. If module tilts vary, it can result in twisted bays.

Even a small amount of undulation or slope on a site can impact the racking design, as well as energy gains. Due to the presence of undulating slopes, our team calculated and determined the need for five different lengths of pile foundations to counteract the slopes and ensure that an accurate tilt angle could be achieved. To mitigate installation risks and expedite the overall process, our crew color-coded the different post lengths and aligned them with their respective foundation locations to ensure that the right post lengths were used across the site. This type of proactive planning and staging is what differentiates our field team and ensures that we deliver projects on time and on spec.