Sunday, May 1, 2016

What One Should Know About Retaining Wall

By Helen Russell


Retailing walls are built for the purpose of restraining soil to unnatural slope. They retain soil lying between two regions of uneven elevations. The areas they are constructed vary. They are often constructed in places where engineering and shaping needs to be done severely for functions like hillside farming and roadway overpass. Other area where a retaining wall may be constructed is a place where there is an undesirable slope.

There are many types of these walls. Some of the examples are gravity, piling, cantilever, and anchored walls. They are meant to support a wedge of soil. The design and construction is done in a way as to counteract the tendency of retained material to shift downslope as a result of gravity. Gravity creates lateral earth pressure on the back of the wall. The pressure depends on the angle of friction and cohesive strength of the material retained.

The ability of gravity walls depends on their mass to resist pressure behind. They get made of heavy material including concrete and stone. Batter setback may be incorporated to improve their stability so that they lean back toward the material that is being held back. The dry-stacked variety of gravity walls are made flexible and in areas prone to frosting, the footing is not made rigid.

In the earlier years of the 20th century, tall retaining walls were of the gravity type. They were made from large masses of stone or concrete. Modern-day walls get made from composite material. Some common materials they are made from include crib walls, gabions, and soil-nailed walls. Gabions are composed of stacked steel wire baskets that are filled with rocks.

Cantilevered retaining walls are constructed from an interior stem made from cast-in-place concrete, mortared masonry, or steel-reinforced. Cantilevered walls sometimes get buttressed at the front side. The back may also comprise of a counterfort to enhance the strength of the walls necessary for resisting lofty loads. Buttresses are made in the form of wing walls placed perpendicularly to the main wall trend. These walls need less material to construct compared to gravity walls.

Sheet pile retaining walls are placed in tight spaces and soft soils. They are made from a wide variety of materials including wood planks, vinyl, or steel driven into the soil. At least a third of the material is driven into the ground while two thirds remain above the ground. However, depending on the environment, these measurements may be altered.

Bored pile walls are built by assembling a series of bored piles. Excess soil in the construction site must be excavated first. The construction process employs many techniques and processes including soil enhancement operations, reinforcing beams, earth anchors, and shotcrete reinforcement layer. Bored pile walls can be built anywhere where sheet piling walls are feasible but cannot be built as a result of excess vibration and noise the process involves.

Styles of construction have evolved a lot. In the same way, methods of reinforcing the walls are many and diverse. Some common methods of retaining include cellular confinement, soil nailing, soil-strengthening, and gabion meshes.




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