WE SPECIALIZE IN RETAINING WALLS

Types of Popular Retaining Walls

Retaining walls are structures that are helpful to restrain soil against unnatural slopes. They are constructed to hold the soil in between two different elevations, and also in places where the landscape needs to be shaped for road construction or farming purposes.

The most important factor to consider when designing and constructing a retaining wall is the tendency of the retaining material to move downslope due to gravity. This situation must be counteracted with methods of retaining the material in place. The groundwater behind the wall should be dissipated properly in order to avoid the hydrostatic pressure on the wall, which in turn can be a threat to the strength of the retaining wall. A proper drainage system is mandatory unless the wall is built to retain water.

There are several types of retaining walls that are currently popular. They can be constructed with many different materials and a variety of construction techniques. There are four extremely popular retaining walls that are extensively used for construction purposes. Gravity retaining walls, Counterfort retaining walls, Semigravity retaining walls and Cantilever retaining walls are the most popular in this regard.

Gravity Retaining Walls –

Gravity retaining walls are constructed with heavy mass such as concrete, stones and other heavy material. The weight of the wall is used in resisting lateral forces of the earth. They are economical up to 10 feet in height for cast concrete structures. They are also sufficiently massive to be reinforced.

Semigravity Retaining Walls –

A specialized form of gravity walls are called semigravity retaining walls. Semigravity retaining walls include tension reinforcing steel in order to reduce the thickness of the wall.

Cantilever Retaining Walls –

Constructed with reinforced concrete. These walls have a thin stem and a base slab. The base has two parts: the heel and the toe. They are part of the base under the backfill. These walls are economical up to a height of 25 feet.

Counterfort Retaining Walls –

They are almost same as the Cantilever walls. They consists of thin vertical concrete particles at regular instances on the back of the wall. This is the only difference between a Cantilever and Counterfort wall. These walls are much more economical than the Cantilever walls for heights of more than 25 feet.

The Benefits you can achieve with Block Retaining Walls

If you have a large amount of soil on your property that needs to be held back you should consider a block retaining wall. You may have experienced large amounts of rain recently and this has caused the elevation located outside of your house to begin sliding into your garden.

You will need to make use of a barrier that will stop further damage from occurring. A block retaining wall is a system that is engineered to address these types of problems. The use of the correct retaining wall could solve many of the issues around soil buildup and is a practical way to keep the soil from sliding into your garden.

There are various types of retaining walls to choose from and it would be advisable to seek the advice of a qualified engineer to advise you on the best block system retaining wall. At the end of the day you will want to choose a system that suits your needs. Below are some the barriers you may want to consider installing.

-Concrete blocks that interlock
-Wood
-Cinderblock
-Brick
-Stone
-Mortar-less

When the concrete is poured for your retaining wall there are generally four types of methods used. These methods will include Semi-gravity, Cantilever, Gravity and counterfort. If your wall is four feet or higher it is recommended that you get an engineer to design the plan for your wall.

Concrete block walls that use an interlocking system are able to lock together without the use of mortar. The advantage of this system is that is easy to construct and install, the blocks are relatively small which allows for flexibility in the construction process.

This can mean the wall is able to wrap, taper, curve or turn in order to suit the layout of your landscape. You can use this system for walls that reach a maximum of 20 feet in height for your wall. This retaining wall can solve your problem of keeping unwanted soil off your property.