The C&O Row Homes are three-level homes with a basement garage and a kitchen at the rooftop level. The site where the homes would be located on Water Street in Charlottesville was used as a dumping ground for the coal tower still located there today. This leaves the soil unsuitable to build on without excessive settlement. Engineering Solutions designed a structural system where the home would be supported with below-grade helical piers. These piers act as stilts for the house, while the concrete garage slab and foundation walls span between the piers and concrete “grade” beams. We were also asked to design the segmental retaining wall behind these houses.