Buffalo Trace Landslide Fix: 200-Ft Micropiles, 21 Days On Site
An active landslide along the Kentucky River at Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort, Ky., forced an emergency design-build slope stabilization, and the team mobilized within 10 hours. ENR named the job Best Project in Manufacturing and an Award of Merit winner for Safety in its 2026 Midwest Best Projects program.
The slope kept moving during construction, and a historic flood added debris, rockfall, unstable conditions and difficult access. Crews worked continuously for 21 days and adjusted methods in real time. The fix combined 200-ft micropiles, soil nails, reinforced shotcrete, drainage improvements, rock armoring and a large-scale A-wall system. Anderson Professional Services, a GeoSpecialties company, served as lead designer and engineer, and Thermal Tech Engineering was the general contractor.
The near-vertical A-wall preserved about 30 ft of usable property. Prefabricated panels and accelerated shotcrete sped installation. Reinforcing the slope in place cut excavation, hauling and environmental disturbance, according to ENR. ENR did not publish the specific safety controls used above the moving slope.
What It Means for Subcontractors
- Geotechnical and specialty drilling: Emergency slope work called for 200-ft micropiles and soil nails in the same package. Crews that can mobilize within hours, as this team did in 10, fit this kind of call.
- Shotcrete, precast and drainage trades: The scope included reinforced and accelerated shotcrete, prefabricated A-wall panels, No. 57 stone, cellular grout and one-way systems to reduce hydrostatic pressure. Each can be a separate subcontract scope on a design-build slope job.
- Safety planning: The award shows owners and judges weigh how safely crews work on a moving slope during flooding. Document your own site-specific controls for rockfall, debris and limited access, since ENR did not publish this team’s methods, and align them with OSHA excavation and fall protection requirements.
