Things you should know about Retaining Walls

Retaining walls can be found almost anywhere, but you're unlikely to notice them unless you need one. Through this article, I’ll attempt to focus on retaining walls, their benefits, design considerations, types, and important points that you wouldn’t want to miss.

What is a Retaining Wall?


It is a structure that keeps soil behind it in place. Concrete blocks, poured concrete, treated timbers, pebbles, and boulders are some materials that can be utilized to build retaining walls. They're commonly utilized to join soils between two different elevations in areas with negative slopes or when the landscape needs to be molded and created for specific purposes, such as hillside farming or roadway overpasses.

While some of its types are simple to use others have a shorter lifespan, but they all can retain soil. A professional might be required because of the complexity of some site work linked to retaining wall building. A structural engineer would design a functional wall with structural strength in mind.

Benefits of Retaining Walls


A retaining wall has a lot of advantages, including minimizing soil erosion and enhancing the value of your home. Several of these advantages are likely to pique your interest and assist you in deciding whether a retaining wall is the best next step for your landscaping improvements.

  • Saves other nearby structures: If a structure or your home is built on a lower platform than the surrounding ground, the earth from the higher raised area may collapse or slide down slowly onto the building, creating damage or structural problems. You can ask your civil and structural design consultants to keep this higher-level land and safeguard the existing structure or building by erecting a retaining wall.
  • Flood Control: The unexpected floods that occasionally wash through your homes are difficulties that people don't always predict. You can safeguard your home and property from flooding damage by using the right retaining walls. If you're unsure whether your property is at risk, use your government survey's flooding hazard map to double-check.
  • Reduces Soil Erosion: You can get a lot of soil erosion from the wind, flash floods, and neighbors who overwater their lawns and dump the surplus over your landscaping. Soil erosion can not only produce unsightly pockmarks and dirty places in your landscaping, but it can also be dangerous. A retaining wall is one of your greatest defenses because you don't want your landscaping to be swamped by red soil. Depending on how much soil and water movement you want to stimulate, you can consider several retaining wall solutions.
  • Rainwater is diverted: Rainwater that would otherwise be drained can be diverted and used for better uses in your home gardens and grass turf by inventive design in building a brick retaining wall. You may funnel rainwater into a collection system using a retaining wall, which can then be utilized to water your garden and grass.

Types of Retaining Walls


Some of the important types of retaining walls are-

  • Gravity Retaining wall: They retain walls that rely solely on their weight to support themselves. Sliding, bearing, and overturning forces should all be considered and evaluated when building this type of retaining wall.
  • Pile Retaining Wall: The piled walls are utilized in temporary and permanent operations because they provide high stiffness retaining features that allow for significant excavation depths with minimal disruption to nearby structures or properties.
  • Cantilever Retaining Wall: Reinforced concrete is used to build these barriers. This retaining wall's base is separated into two sections: the heel and the toe. Under the backfill, the heel is a portion of the base. These walls can be prefabricated in a factory or built on the job site.
  • Anchored Retaining Wall: Tiebacks are another name for these. They are useful when a thinner retaining wall is required or when space for other forms of retaining walls is restricted.
  • Buttress Retaining Wall: Cantilever walls with counterforts monolithic with the rear of the wall slab and base slab are counterfort walls. The counter-forts connect the wall slab and the base, acting as tension stiffeners to prevent bending and shearing loads.
  • Berliner Wall: For Roman military engineers, this type of wall was legendary, and it was employed for deep excavations. It's a relatively inexpensive system that's also simple and quick to put together. Due to the lack of in-depth dewatering and expense, it can only be used for temporary construction and cannot be used in high formation conditions.

Design Considerations of Retaining Walls


Some of the design considerations are as follows:

  • Recognizing and counteracting the tendency of the retained material to migrate downslope owing to gravity is the most critical consideration of inappropriate retaining wall design and installation. This results in lateral earth pressure behind the wall, determined by the angle of internal friction (phi), the cohesive strength (c) of the held material, and the direction and amplitude of movement experienced by the retaining structure.
  • The wall should be able to withstand the pressure given to it structurally.
  • The wall should be suitably proportioned, so that lateral pressure does not cause it to overturn.
  • The wall should be free of sliding considerations. It should not be forced out by lateral pressure.
  • The weight of the wall, together with the force exerted by earth pressure, should not place a strain on its foundation that exceeds the soil's safe bearing capacity.
  • The absolute pressure or thrust can be assumed to act one-third from the lowest depth for lengthwise sections of uniform height.

Important Points That You Wouldn’t Like to Miss


Some of the important points about retaining walls are as follows:

  • The most common perception about retaining walls is that they are landscaping features utilized to hold back the soil. They can, however, be used to expand yard area, produce gardens or beautiful flowers, and create a more appealing yard appearance.
  • While the most common retaining wall configuration is straight across, it is not the only option. People are increasingly becoming inventive with their wall arrangements, using them to add curvature and character to their landscapes.
  • If you're building a retaining wall on a sloped yard, make sure to include extra drainage at the bottom of the design. Adding gravel and a fabric-covered drainage pipe to this portion is a simple way to accomplish this.

Conclusion


The civil and structural engineering design consultants can assist you in determining the optimal type, length, and height of the retaining wall. They will aid you in properly constructing drainage pipes to keep water away from structural parts. The structure's overall stability will also be examined to ensure that it is stable and safe.